UNMIK Probe into Hague Lawyers Incident Released

Members of the team representing former Yugoslav army chief of staff Dragoljub Ojdanic were on a visit to the village of Krushe e Vogel/Mala Krusa on May 25 when there was a confrontation between police and local residents, resulting in a number of people being injured.



A statement released by UNMIK on June 7 quoted the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, as accepting that mistakes had been made during the process of planning and approving the visit.



"In particular, the operational planning was made on the basis of inadequate information on the sensitivity of the visit and the history of the village," he said.



The crimes listed on the indictment against Ojdanic and his co-defendants include a massacre of over 100 men and boys from the area, allegedly carried out by Serbian and Yugoslav security forces in March 1999.



Jessen-Petersen added that he was in no doubt that last month's incident could have been avoided if the visit had been properly prepared and a full explanation given to villagers.



The statement stressed that the findings contained in it were so far only preliminary.



Lawyers for Ojdanic's co-defendants have joined his defence team in calling for their clients' trial to be delayed, arguing that they cannot prepare their cases properly under such circumstances.



The trial is currently due to begin formally on July 10, although it will not get under way properly until after the tribunal's summer recess.