The Council for the Friend of the Court has already written a memo and a whole report will be drawn up very soon and presented to the defence, the assistant justice minister in charge of cooperation with the UN court, Jaksa Muljacic, told Hina over the telephone.
"We are closely following the trial and expect an independent expert in international law to be engaged as an amicus curiae in the foreseeable future, with all the legal and factual documentation," he said in response to the question on when Croatia would submit such a request to the tribunal.
Asked about the selection of the expert, Muljacic said a final decision had not been made yet and that two names were in question.
Croatian Ambassador to the Netherlands Frane Krnic today visited the Hague tribunal and met Registrar Hans Holthius, saying afterwards that the talks had addressed all forms of cooperation, notably trials of interest to Croatia, including the one against the six former Bosnian Croat military and political leaders.
Commenting on media reports following the start of the trial on Wednesday, he dismissed as incorrect speculation that the Croatian government had taken no official step to become involved through a friend of the court. He said Croatia had taken every step so that it could become involved at the appropriate moment and that there was no reason not to request involvement, as will be done in the Cermak, Markac and Gotovina case.
Embassy staff will follow the trial of the six Bosnian Croats on a daily basis and their reports will be sent to the Council for the Friend of the Court and the Justice Ministry in Zagreb.
Asked about criticisms from the Bosnian Croats' defence that Zagreb was denying access to documents and archives, Muljacic said the defence teams had been given everything they had requested.
"They have absolutely everything as the Cermak, Markac and Gotovina defence teams, access to archives and documentation," he said, adding that the Council had collected a huge amount of documents which would be made available to the lawyers.
The Croatian Consul in The Hague, Luka Aleric, said that all 14 Croatian citizens in the tribunal's detention unit enjoyed regular consular assistance and visits, and that the Croatian Embassy and Consulate staff provided them with all the necessary assistance during their visits to The Hague.