COURTSIDE: Blaskic - Defence Counsel Cleared

Contempt of court charges against a Croatian general's lawyer are dropped.

COURTSIDE: Blaskic - Defence Counsel Cleared

Contempt of court charges against a Croatian general's lawyer are dropped.

Anto Nobilo, one of the defence counsels for General Tihomir Blaskic, was cleared of contempt of court last week by the appeals chamber, which threw out claims that he had revealed the identity of a protected witness.


The chamber found that Nobilo had no reason to suspect the identity of the witness was protected. It ordered that he be repaid a fine of 4,000 Dutch guilders ($1,550).


This is the third time the defence have been charged with contempt of court. The first instance was against Belgrade lawyer Milan Vujic, who was found guilty of knowingly presenting false evidence while defending Dusko Tadic, as well as of manipulating witness statements.


He was fined 15,000 guilders ($5,810), and his name was removed from the list of lawyers eligible to work for the tribunal.


In the second case, defendants Milan Simic and his lawyer Branislav Avramovic were acquitted of charges of blackmailing and threatening witnesses in Bosanski Samac.


Vjera Bogati is IWPR's correspondent in The Hague.


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