YUGOSLAVIA: FOUR DUTCHMEN ARRESTED IN YUGOSLAVIA ACCUSED OF TERRORISM DENY ALL CHARGES

Record ID: 647415

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: FOUR DUTCHMEN ARRESTED IN YUGOSLAVIA ACCUSED OF TERRORISM DENY ALL CHARGES
  • Date: 17th August 2000
  • Summary: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA (AUGUST 17, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. GV EXTERIORS OF THE BELGRADE DISTRICT PRISON 0.09 2. SLV SIGN AT THE ENTRANCE 0.13 3. SCU SOUNDBITE (Serbian) TOMA FILA, BAS VAN SCHAIK'S LAWYER SAYING: "I expect that all of this will be over in 30 days and that this process, if possible, is not used for campaign purposes of the elections, which as you know, are underway, that it all ends in 30 days. I believe that it is the way judge Cukic will act." 0.35 4. SLV PRISON ENTRANCE 0.42 5. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) ZORAN JOVANOVIC, LAWYER DEFENDING SANDER ZEITSEN SAYING: "He wrote a letter to his family. I said to Mr. Zeitsen that I am in contact with his parents every day, with his father. [I told him] that his family, his friends, all Holland are behind him, support him. Of course, he was glad to hear it." 1.09 6. SLV EXTERIOR OF THE BELGRADE DISTRICT PRISON 1.16 7. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) IVAN JANKOVIC, LAWYER DEFENDING GODFRIED DE RIE SPEAKING SAYING: "I just told you, they are innocent. No, I have not talked now with Mr. De Rie about it, I intend to, of course, but bear in mind that we had a very brief encounter, we couldn't rise all the questions. I did tell him though, and it is my sincere belief, that their statements, including the once that were on video, had been forced out of them by force, threats and/or false promises. I have also told him, I believe it to be vital, that none of those statements, signed, videoed or whatever, can be used in court. The only statement which can be used in court, and as well as the future statements, if any, is the one which was given to the investigating judge on Saturday the twelfth of August in which he has clearly denied all charges against him." 2.34 8. BV JANKOVIC LEAVING 2.38 9. GV EXTERIORS OF PRISON 2.44 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA96A0RWBMXQST2ESD14ASSIMQH
  • Story Text: Four Dutchmen arrested in Yugoslavia more than a month
    ago and accused of attempted terrorism have denied all
    allegations, their defence attorneys said.



    The four men - motor mechanic Godfried de Rie, bank
    employee Bas van Schaik, Sander Zeitsen and Jeroen van Iersel
    were arrested testified to a Belgrade court at a pre-trial
    hearing last week with no defence attorney representing them.

    Lawyer Ivan Jankovic acting for Godfried de Rie said
    the for men were innocent and their statements were made under
    pressure.

    "It is my sincere belief, that their statements,
    including the once that were on video, had been forced out of
    them by force, threats and/or false promises... I believe it
    to be vital, that none of those statements, signed, videoed or
    whatever, can be used in court, " he said.

    Lawyer Toma Fila, who was asked by the family of Bas
    van Schaik to represent him said he hoped the ordeal of his
    client would be over in 30 days.

    "I expect that all of this will be over in 30 days and
    that this process, if possible, is not used for campaign
    purposes of the elections, which as you know, are underway,
    that it all ends in 30 days," Fila said.

    The case has been shrouded in mystery since Yugoslav
    Information Minister Goran Matic first announced at a news
    conference in Belgrade at the end of last month that four
    Western spies posing as "weekend warriors" had been arrested.

    Western diplomats dismissed the charge that the men were
    intelligence agents, saying they appeared to be amateur
    adventurers and that there were many questions surrounding the
    confessions they made on video.

    It was hard to tell if the men were speaking freely when
    they described planning to kidnap or kill Yugoslav President
    Slobodan Milosevic and other figures indicted by the United
    Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

    Shortly after the announcement of the Dutch arrests, the
    authorities arrested two Canadians and two Britons in
    Yugoslavia's smaller republic Montenegro.

    They are also accused of attempted terrorism, but lawyers
    have been allowed to attend their pre-trial hearing, at which
    they denied all the allegations, saying they were on leave
    from work in post-war Kosovo, now under international control.


    any/jr

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