Ivica Djikic of the Split weekly 'Feral Tribune' looks at the beginning of the trial of Mladen Naletilic - Tuta in Zagreb.

Naletilic appeared in front of the face of justice almost nine months after his arrest. The indictment, comprising of two points, accuses Tuta for the criminal acts of kidnapping, assault of an official during its performance of security duties, investigation to murder and participation in a group which committed heavy violence through joint activity.

It is actually unclear why the State prosecution limited itself only to two points of the indictment, that is, to the cases of Robert Nosic and Damir Brekalo, when every average person somewhat involved in the war circumstances in Hercegovina knows that the indictment against Naletilic could be much larger. Wasn't nine months of the investigation enough for the Croatian legal authorities to investigate Tuta's activities during the Croat - Bosniak war ? Why, for example, wasn't an investigation conducted about whose unit controlled the operation of camps for Bosniaks in Heliodrom and Dretelj, and whose unit took the Bosniaks from their homes in Mostar, Ljubuski and Stolac into those camps ? Why wasn't it investigated who organized the bringing of Mostar Muslims to the Velze football stadium, about which there is video evidence ? The only answer could be that this was not done because it would also prove that some Croats in BiH, did commit crimes after all, and among them surely Mladen Naletilic would not be at the top of the list of those most responsible for the crimes.

It is also quite unclear why Croat investigators, during months they spent in Herzegovina did not show interest for the murder of General Blaz Kraljevic and eight of his combatants, since even the Hercegovina sparrows chirp about Tuta's involvement in this unsolved crime. What should have also entered the indictment is days long kidnapping of Kresimir Zubak in Mostar, the story about the siege if the HVO headquarters in Posusje, where general Ante Roso set helplessly for a few hours, then the conflict between Tuta and General Slobodan Praljak in Prozor, when latter barely kept his head on his shoulders, while also investigation could be made into Naletilic's role in the distribution of Herzegovina drugs; this role was particularly described by some specialized international organizations.

Why nothing of the listed has been put in the indictment is a question to be answered by the main man of the Croatian Information Service in Herzegovina, Ivica Lucic, who certainly took good notice that the investigation does not go too deep. His caution is described by 'Feral's' sources by the fact that the investigators of the Hague Tribunal are showing deep interest in Tuta's trial. It is probably because of the Hague that Tuta's indictment is shallow, and it seems that the Croat authorities think that by passing a sentence in Croatia would neutralize the interest of the Tribunal for Mladen Naletilic. But, according to its Statute, the ICTY can try the persons on whom a sentence has already been passed, if at any stage of the process they notice (un)intentional procedural mistake; 'any phase' also includes the investigation stage and the formulation of the indictment.

Mladen Naletilic, who has no rank, and who, by his own words, declined the medal awarded to him by President Tudjman, supposedly has another safety valve in the case of a call from the Hague. There is no written trace of the notorious fact that Tuta was the commander of the so called Penal Batallion , because, supposedly, nobody appointed him to that post.