Relief workers convicted of espionage by Yugoslav court

Pratt, left, received a 12-year prison term and Wallace, right, was sentenced to four years

May 29, 1999
Web posted at: 7:00 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT)

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Three relief workers for CARE International received lengthy prison sentences Saturday after being convicted of espionage by a Yugoslav court.

Australians Steven Pratt and Peter Wallace and Yugoslav national Branko Jelen were convicted by a five-judge military panel. Pratt received a 12-year prison term, while Jelen was sentenced to six years and Wallace to four.

"I'm outraged and saddened by the verdict of the Yugoslav court," said CARE USA President Peter Bell. "We must face the fact that this process is being driven by politics, not justice."

Attorneys for the men said they planned to appeal.

Pratt and Wallace had been detained by Yugoslav officials on March 31 on the Yugoslav side of the Lipovac border crossing into Croatia, according to CARE officials. They were considered missing until they were shown on Serbian TV in early April.

Yugoslav officials accused the men, who were carrying laptop computers and other high-tech equipment, of spying for Australia.

Pratt was charged with organizing an intelligence network. Wallace and Jelen were charged with providing information to that alleged network. But the military judges determined there was not enough evidence to support those charges and convicted the three of the lesser offense of espionage.

However, according to legal experts in Yugoslavia, the espionage conviction could potentially lead to a longer prison sentence than the original charge.

"They were not even found guilty of the charges on which they were tried but of another offense of passing on secret information, which the defense had no chance to rebut," said Charles Tapp, executive director of CARE Australia.

Pratt had appeared on state-controlled television, saying he was a spy. But CARE officials say that admission was made under duress, and sources close to the men's defense team told CNN that it was ruled inadmissible as evidence by the military court.

CARE officials said the Australians had been in the region giving assistance to Serbian refugees dislocated from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina during earlier Balkan conflicts.

Correspondent Alessio Vinci contributed to this report.

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