Bosnian Croat Delivered to Tribunal

The Bosnian Croat commander of a Bosnian prison camp was handed over to the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal on Tuesday, the first suspect taken into custody for alleged atrocities against Serbs.

Zdravko Mucic is accused of being responsible for at least 14 killings, seven cases of torture and two rapes committed against Serbs in 1992 by guards at the Celebici prison camp in central Bosnia-Herzegovina. Three Bosnian Muslims also have been indicted in connection with the alleged atrocities.

Austrian police arrested the 40-year-old Mucic last month on the tribunal’s orders and turned him over to court officials Tuesday at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Mucic’s attorney, Manfred Ainedter, said his client maintains he is innocent. Mucic is to enter a plea Thursday and faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.

Also Tuesday, Bosnian Serbs released three Muslim prisoners in an effort to meet international demands and gain admittance to a conference where they can lay claim to a share of Bosnia’s reconstruction aid.

Top civilian officials said they were encouraged by the freeing of the former prisoners of war but would not announce before today whether the Bosnian Serbs will be allowed to attend the two-day international fund-raising conference that starts Friday in Brussels.