UN tribunal drops indictment against Croatian accused of war crimes

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today announced that it has withdrawn an indictment against a Croatian military policeman accused of war crimes against Bosnian Muslims, saying it was more appropriate for a national court to prosecute the suspect.

Yesterday, Judge Amin El-Mahdi issued an order to remove the indictment against Zoran Marinic following a request in August by chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, who said that the accused was a low-level indictee, and that "it was in the interests of the fair administration of justice and within the framework of the general policy" of the UN Tribunal that he be tried before a national court.

The Prosecutor added that she did not know the whereabouts of the accused and that he was not represented by any counsel known to the Tribunal.

Judge El-Mahdi also ordered that the arrest warrant be withdrawn, and compelled the Prosecutor to transmit all information related to the case to national authorities.