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Croatia Charges Former Official With War Crimes

June 09, 2011

Croatia has indicted a former senior interior ministry official, charging him with war crimes against Serb civilians at the beginning of the country's independence war in the early 1990s.

On June 9, the prosecution confirmed the indictment on its website with the defendant's initials, as is the usual legal practice, while local media identified the suspect as Tomislav Mercep, 58.

Croatia fought a four-year war against rebel Serbs backed and armed by Belgrade. The impartial handling of war crimes is an important condition for Croatia's European Union accession.

Zagreb is in the final stage of EU entry talks and the European Commission is expected on June 10 to recommend that member states wrap up membership talks with Croatia in the coming weeks.

Croatia expects to join the bloc in mid-2013.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/croatia_charges_former_official_with_war_crimes/24230057.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.