"We keep facing situations when Governments and Parliaments by their political declarations were trying to change or re-interpret history and distort facts well known to all reasonable observers. For instance, now, the Croatian Government is attempting to invite itself as amicus curiae in the ICTY cases in order to dispute allegations from the indictments confirmed by the ICTY Judges with a purpose of setting the "historical and political" record straight. (...) I will oppose as strongly as possible this initiative," del Ponte said during a visit to Finland.
The chief prosecutor was speaking at an international seminar on "building a culture of accountability", organised by the Finnish EU Presidency and Amnesty International.
Croatian Prime Minister had announced that Croatia would apply for the status of amicus curiae in the three cases because it could not accept the allegations from the indictments that war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had been committed as part of "a joint criminal enterprise" involving the Croatian state and military leadership.
Ten days ago Croatia wrote to the Hague-based tribunal asking for leave to file such a request. The request will be addressed by the trial chambers dealing with the three cases.
"Judicial processes should be left beyond the reach of politics and the interference of governments," del Ponte said in Helsinki, noting that "impartial processes are especially important in the context of complex and highly contested events," such as the conflicts of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia.