Attorney Separovic, who was found to be in conflict of interest on Tuesday, told the judges that he had not been and was not in conflict of interest, that he had not jeopardised his client's interests and that he had not shown contempt of court with his actions.
The trial chamber on Tuesday found Separovic to be in conflict of interest on two grounds, ruling that he had a personal interest which disqualified him as defence counsel and that he would probably be called as a witness because of his personal knowledge gained at the time of Operation Storm, when he held the office of justice minister.
Explaining its conclusions, the trial chamber said yesterday that Separovic's personal knowledge included his claims that former Croatian President Franjo Tudjman did not give any instructions not to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes committed against the Serb population, as well as that he was a relevant witness regarding the issue of responsibility for the work of military courts.
The question of whether the ministry of defence, or rather the ministry of justice and Separovic as justice minister, were responsible for the work of those courts was the basis for the trial chamber's decision on the existence of conflict of interest on the part of Separovic.
While Separovic denies the justice ministry's responsibility, this could be in favour of the indicted generals, who are linked with the ministry of defence.
Separovic told the judges today that their arguments would be clear to him only if they stemmed from the theory that all members of Croatia's government at the time, including himself, had participated in a joint criminal enterprise.
"That would disqualify me," Separovic said, stressing that he had never been under investigation and that he was innocent.
He went on to say that he had not breached the standards of the professional ethic as over the past few months, while challenging the allegation that he was in possible conflict of interest, he was guided by the position of the Appeals Chamber, which suggested possible solutions, and cited previous court practice that was in his favour.
Before Separovic's statement, the judges were addressed by Gregory Kehoe, defence counsel for General Gotovina, who asked the presiding judge if his giving up on Separovic's testimony would change the tribunal's position.
I am sorry, but your decision comes too late, the judge replied.
The issue of possible conflict of interest with regard to Separovic representation cropped up last year when Gotovina's defence team, opposing the tribunal's decision to join his case with that of Cermak and Markac, cited possible conflict of interest on the part of Separovic because it mentioned the possibility of calling Separovic as a witness considering the fact that he was justice minister at the time relevant to the indictment against Gotovina.
Before the discussion on Separovic representation, defence teams for Gotovina and Markac and the prosecution briefly presented their arguments against and in favour of the tribunal's jurisdiction over Operation Storm.
Attorney Goran Mikulicic completed the presentation of arguments for defence counsel by saying that it was Croatia's judiciary rather than the Hague tribunal that had jurisdiction over the crimes alleged in the indictment.
The indictment charges the three generals with crimes committed against the Serb population before, in the course and in the aftermath of Operation Storm between July and November 1995, in an ethnic cleansing campaign that was devised as part of a joint criminal enterprise.
Their trial is scheduled to start on May 7, but Separovic's possible withdrawal from the case could result in change of the date.