The defence of former Bosnian Croat Defence Council (HVO) chief of staff Milivoj Petkovic called on the Hague war crimes tribunal in their closing argument on Tuesday to acquit their client of crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Attorney Vesna Alaburic said General Petkovic's actions had been justified from a military point of view and not criminal or directed against civilians.
She said the HVO had fought for Bosnia and Herzegovina as had the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that it had not been part of a criminal plan, adding that Petkovic had genuinely thought that the HVO was one of Bosnia's armies.
He did not plan a war against Bosnia and Herzegovina nor did he prepare for it, as claimed in the indictment, Alaburic said.
The defence never claimed that he was infallible, either as a man or as a soldier, and perhaps today he would adopt different decisions, but he came to Bosnia and Herzegovina in good faith to defend his homeland, Croatia, which was being attacked from Bosnian territory, as well as to help in the defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Alaburic.
Leaders of the former self-styled Croat Community of Herceg Bosna - Prime Minister Jadranko Prlic, Defence Minister Bruno Stojic, HVO generals Slobodan Praljak and Petkovic, the commander of the HVO military police, Valentin Coric, and the head of the commission for the exchange of prisoners of war, Berislav Pusic - are accused of crimes committed in a joint criminal enterprise, led by former Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, in order to ethnically cleanse Herceg Bosna, which they wanted to annex to Croatia.
The prosecutors have asked that they be found guilty and given prison sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years.
