---

Croatian Police Arrest War Crimes Suspect Zlatko Aleksovski SUSPECT PROFILE Zlatko Alekosovski worked in a prison in Zenica from 23 February 1987 until receiving an administrative post at prison facilities in Kaonik, near Busovac, around 29 January 1993. He was the warden of the prison Kaonik, where he held meetings with representatives of the International Red Cross and inspectors from the European Union's mission. Zlatko Aleksovski allowed illegal interrogations of imprisoned individuals as well the practice of using prisoners for slave labor and as human shields. —Globus Number 259 from 24 November, 1995 By Davor Huic ZAGREB, June 9 (Reuters) -- The Croatian Ministry of Justice said on Sunday that police had arrested Zlatko Aleksovski, one of nine Bosnian Croats indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia. Aleksovski was arrested on Saturday in the region of Split on the Adriatic coast, said a ministry statement, quoted by the state HINA news agency. It was the first time that Croatia arrested a suspect named by the Hague tribunal. The U.N. tribunal in The Hague charged Aleksovski as one of six suspects accused of killing Muslims in the central Lasva valley during the Muslim-Croat war in 1993. Aleksovski has been charged with grave breaches of the laws or customs of war, in particular for unlawful treatment of Muslim detainees. General Tihimor Blaskic, another of the six Croats indicted for crimes against Muslims in the Lasva valley, handed himself over to the tribunal in April. He has insisted on his innonence. According to the tribunal indictment, Aleksovski was the head of the Kaonik prison camp near Vitez in the Lasva valley in 1993. He later became the commander of the notorious Helidrom detention camp near the town of Mostar, where thousands of Muslims from the area were held. Initial reports from independent Zagreb radio listed Alekovski's age as 29. The tribunal indictment records his age as 36. The ministry statement did not indicate when Alekovski would be turned over to the custody of the war crimes tribunal. It said further treatment of Aleksovski would be ``in accordance'' with the country's penal code and a law on cooperation with the tribunal, which was adopted by the parliament two months ago. The law provides a legal basis for extraditing Croat nationals and other suspects wanted by the U.N. tribunal. Croatia, which armed and steered Bosnian Croat forces during the Bosnia conflict, has come under international pressure to cooperate with the Hague tribunal as required by the Dayton peace agreement. The Council of Europe has also set cooperation with the tribunal as a condition for Croatia's admission. The Bosnian government has already arrested and extradited some suspects charged by the tribunal. Serbia has refused to adopt a law allowing the extradition of indicted war criminals and President Slobodan Milosevic has questioned the tribunal's impartiality. The tribunal, set up by the Security Council in 1993, has so far indicted 58 people, 46 Serbs, nine Croats and three Muslims. Six are held at its detention centre at The Hague.

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia United Nations
Coalition for International Justice
Reports concerning human rights abuses in Bosnia Intac Access
Major War Criminals/Suspects CalTech's Bosnia Site
Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia CalTech's Bosnia Site

Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved