UN tribunal grants Kosovo journalist, Bosnian Serbs temporary release

A Kosovo journalist and two former Bosnian Serb army officials have been granted temporary provisional release by the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, it was announced today.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague, ruled that Baton Haxhiu, a well-known journalist in Kosovo, will be granted release before his trial.

He is charged with contempt of court committed during the trial of Ramush Haradinaj, the former prime minister of Kosovo, and others, when he is alleged to have revealed the identity of a secret witness in an article he published.

The tribunal also granted release today to Radivoji Miletić and Ljubomir Borovcanin for the four-day period starting 26 May.

Mr. Miletić served as a high-ranking military officials in the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), while Mr. Borovcanin was formerly the Deputy Commander of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) Special Police Brigade.

The two, along with six others, are charged with crimes related to the notorious massacre of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and Žepa enclaves in the summer of 1995.