ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatia protested yesterday to UN chief Ban Ki-moon the leniency of prison sentences handed out by the UN war crimes court over the 1991 Vukovar massacre which were perceived here as “scandalous.” “Croatia cannot remain silent in a moment when justice is being ignored by an institution which has been founded to serve it,” Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said in a letter sent to Ban. The Hague-based UN tribunal on Thursday sentenced a former Serb-dominated Yugoslav army officer, Mile Mrksi,c to 20 years for aiding and abetting in the torture and murder of 194 Croat prisoners of war. His subordinate Veselin Sljivancanin was sentenced to five years in jail. The third accused, Miroslav Radic, was acquitted because judges found there was no evidence he was aware of the killings at a pig farm near Vukovar.

ANKARA (AFP) – Two Turkish policemen went on trial yesterday for their role in a scandal which saw security forces pose for pictures with the suspected murderer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The trial in the northern city of Samsun is the first time that members of the security forces have been brought before a court over the January 19 murder, which the police are accused of failing to prevent. Footage and photos leaked to the media at the time showed officers, some of them in uniform, posing with the self-confessed killer, 17-year-old Ogun Samast, as he held a Turkish flag, unleashing accusations that some officials may secretly approve of the murder.

Bosnia’s Muslim and Serb leaders yesterday reached agreement on police reform, a key requirement for Bosnia to sign the association and stabilization agreement with the European Union, local media reported. Negotiations on restructuring the country’s ethnically separate police forces had been deadlocked for more than three years and Bosnia faced isolation unless a deal was reached by the end of this month. (Reuters)

A Turkish court yesterday adjourned the trial of a German teenager accused of sexually abusing a British girl until the court receives the girl’s testimony, her lawyer said. The 17-year-old suspect, who was not identified by name because he is a minor, was ordered to remain in custody until the proceedings resume on October 26, the lawyer said. The teen is accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old British girl while they were both on vacation in a resort town in southern Turkey in April. (AP)