Milan Babic was born in 1956 in Kukar, in Croatia. He is married with two children, and is a dentist by profession.
In October 2001 Babic initiated contact with this Tribunal after learning that he had been named as a co-perpetrator in the Croatia Indictment issued in the case of Slobodan Miloševic in September 2001. Babic agreed to be interviewed by the Prosecution and to testify in the Miloševic case. An indictment against Babic was confirmed in November 2003. The indictment charged him with persecution, murder, cruel treatment, wanton destruction of villages or devastation not justified by military necessity, and destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to education or religion. The charges were based on events which took place in Croatian Krajina from August 1991 to February 1992.
In November 2003 Babic surrendered to the Tribunal. Two months later he filed a plea agreement jointly with the Prosecution. According to this agreement, Babic would admit to having aided and abetted the crime of persecutions, committed by a joint criminal enterprise, as charged in count 1 of the indictment. The goal of the joint criminal enterprise was the forcible permanent removal of Croat and other non-Serb populations from approximately one-third of Croatia, in order to transform the acquired territory into a Serb-dominated state through the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
Babic does not deny the seriousness of the crimes committed. Virtually the whole of the Croat and non-Serb population was expelled from the region in question, by forcible removal or by being caused to flee through fear of imminent attack. More than 200 civilians, including women and elderly persons, were murdered, and several hundred civilians were confined or imprisoned in inhumane conditions. The crime was characterized by ruthlessness and savagery and had a severe impact on victims and their relatives. Their suffering is still significant. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Babic’s expression of remorse is sincere and constitutes a mitigating factor.
Having considered the arguments and the evidence presented by the parties, the Trial Chamber hereby sentences Milan Babic to 13 years of imprisonment. Milan Babic is entitled to credit for 211 days served in detention prior to this day. Milan Babic shall remain in the custody of the Tribunal until such time as arrangements for his transfer to the State in which he will serve his sentence have been finalized.
Source: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Friday, June 11, 2004
Congo National Troops Thwart Coup Attempt
Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila has appeared on national television to assure the public he is in charge after a coup attempt by a small band of renegades failed. In the broadcast, Mr. Kabila urged people to remain calm and vigilant.The coup attempt began after midnight Thursday when renegade forces took over the state radio station in the capital, Kinshasa. Coup leader -- Major Eric Lenge -- announced that the transitional government had been suspended. Following skirmishes with government security forces, Major Lenge and 21 of his men fled the capital. President Kabila said the army had arrested 12 of the renegade soldiers and was chasing the others. The arrested soldiers were all members of the presidential guard.
Source: Voice of America
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
UN links Rautenbach to DRC
Billy Rautenbach, the former head of Hyundai South Africa and the fugitive millionaire "somewhere in Africa", has been named in a secret report by the United Nations as a "prominent roleplayer" in corruption activities in Africa - particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This information was given exclusively to Beeld on Wednesday amid allegations in court documents that the DRC government and its officials owned various assets were being seized in South Africa and other countries.
A UN report, completed about four years ago, uncovered Rautenbach's corrupt activities in various African countries. At the time, copies of the report were distributed to a number of African heads of state, but nothing came of this. The existence of this report came to light amid efforts by Frans Rootman, a Pretoria investigator, to seize assets after winning a US$20m claim in September in Pretoria against the DRC government. By Wednesday, the DRC had not paid one cent towards the settlement, which included legal costs.
Chris Schoeman, who is representing Rootman in the asset-seizure process, on Wednesday registered an asset-seizure claim in the Belgium high court for DRC-owned property in this country. Millions of rands are also held in a DRC bank account in Belgium. Two of Rootman's attorneys, John Mendelsohn of Johannesburg and Gerhard Painter of Pretoria, confirmed the existence of the UN report on Wednesday. Mendelsohn said, however, the DRC refused to give them a copy of the report as it "contained state secrets".
Rautenbach, considered by the UN to be a prominent roleplayer in corruption, was appointed head of the state-controlled Gecamines by the late president, Laurent-Désiré Kabila. But, in the wake of this report, Kabila appointed Rootman to investigate the theft of large amounts of cobalt from Gecamines. In his investigations, Rootman also found Rautenbach to be a key figure in the disappearance of the cobalt.
Willie Hofmeyr of the SA national prosecutions authority said an international warrant of arrest had already been issued against Rautenbach. He said the UN was also working on an extradition. Sources close to Rautenbach said he was in Harare "where he has President Robert Mugabe and other ministers in his pocket". They also said it was common knowledge that Rautenbach had involved the late Kabila's government in his schemes.
Source: News 24
A UN report, completed about four years ago, uncovered Rautenbach's corrupt activities in various African countries. At the time, copies of the report were distributed to a number of African heads of state, but nothing came of this. The existence of this report came to light amid efforts by Frans Rootman, a Pretoria investigator, to seize assets after winning a US$20m claim in September in Pretoria against the DRC government. By Wednesday, the DRC had not paid one cent towards the settlement, which included legal costs.
Chris Schoeman, who is representing Rootman in the asset-seizure process, on Wednesday registered an asset-seizure claim in the Belgium high court for DRC-owned property in this country. Millions of rands are also held in a DRC bank account in Belgium. Two of Rootman's attorneys, John Mendelsohn of Johannesburg and Gerhard Painter of Pretoria, confirmed the existence of the UN report on Wednesday. Mendelsohn said, however, the DRC refused to give them a copy of the report as it "contained state secrets".
Rautenbach, considered by the UN to be a prominent roleplayer in corruption, was appointed head of the state-controlled Gecamines by the late president, Laurent-Désiré Kabila. But, in the wake of this report, Kabila appointed Rootman to investigate the theft of large amounts of cobalt from Gecamines. In his investigations, Rootman also found Rautenbach to be a key figure in the disappearance of the cobalt.
Willie Hofmeyr of the SA national prosecutions authority said an international warrant of arrest had already been issued against Rautenbach. He said the UN was also working on an extradition. Sources close to Rautenbach said he was in Harare "where he has President Robert Mugabe and other ministers in his pocket". They also said it was common knowledge that Rautenbach had involved the late Kabila's government in his schemes.
Source: News 24
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
Liberian Ruler Can Be Tried, Court Rules
Charles G. Taylor, the former Liberian president accused of crimes against humanity in connection with a rebel insurrection in neighboring Sierra Leone, can be prosecuted by an international war crimes tribunal, a United Nations-backed court in Sierra Leone ruled Monday.
Mr. Taylor's lawyers had argued that a court in one country had no right to try the head of state of another country. But the four judges on the appeals panel of the Special Court for Sierra Leone rejected that argument, ruling that as an international tribunal, the special court does have that authority. The ruling clears the last legal hurdle for the prosecution, but another more daunting one remains. Nigeria, which has sheltered Mr. Taylor since he stepped down as president of Liberia in August 2003, has so far rebuffed demands to turn him over to the court in Sierra Leone. The Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said only that he would return his guest to his home country if the Liberian courts seek to prosecute him.
Liberia, which emerged from 14 years of crushing civil war with Mr. Taylor's departure, has issued no such request. Mr. Taylor's lawyer in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, declined to comment on the special court's ruling. "I haven't read the report, so how can I comment on it?" said the lawyer, Terrence Terry.
The special court was created jointly by the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone to punish the ringleaders of that country's decade-long war. Mr. Taylor is the most prominent among 11 people indicted so far. He faces 17 counts of murder, rape and other crimes against humanity in connection with the support he reportedly gave the rebels in Sierra Leone. "With this decision, Charles Taylor has no more legal cards to play," said Richard Dicker, director of international justice for Human Rights Watch, based in New York. "The time has come for Nigeria to hand Taylor over to the special court." The special court will begin its first trial on Thursday. Among the defendants is Sam Hinga Norman, a former government minister in Sierra Leone accused of raising a terrifying pro-government militia, the Kamajors.
Source: New York Times
Mr. Taylor's lawyers had argued that a court in one country had no right to try the head of state of another country. But the four judges on the appeals panel of the Special Court for Sierra Leone rejected that argument, ruling that as an international tribunal, the special court does have that authority. The ruling clears the last legal hurdle for the prosecution, but another more daunting one remains. Nigeria, which has sheltered Mr. Taylor since he stepped down as president of Liberia in August 2003, has so far rebuffed demands to turn him over to the court in Sierra Leone. The Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said only that he would return his guest to his home country if the Liberian courts seek to prosecute him.
Liberia, which emerged from 14 years of crushing civil war with Mr. Taylor's departure, has issued no such request. Mr. Taylor's lawyer in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, declined to comment on the special court's ruling. "I haven't read the report, so how can I comment on it?" said the lawyer, Terrence Terry.
The special court was created jointly by the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone to punish the ringleaders of that country's decade-long war. Mr. Taylor is the most prominent among 11 people indicted so far. He faces 17 counts of murder, rape and other crimes against humanity in connection with the support he reportedly gave the rebels in Sierra Leone. "With this decision, Charles Taylor has no more legal cards to play," said Richard Dicker, director of international justice for Human Rights Watch, based in New York. "The time has come for Nigeria to hand Taylor over to the special court." The special court will begin its first trial on Thursday. Among the defendants is Sam Hinga Norman, a former government minister in Sierra Leone accused of raising a terrifying pro-government militia, the Kamajors.
Source: New York Times
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