In September Croatia submitted a request to the ICTY to be granted amicus curiae status in the trial of the three Croatian generals, as well as in the case "Prlic and Others", hoping that reports by legal experts and historians - friends of the court - would contest the unacceptable allegations from the indictments in those cases. The ICTY last week rejected Croatia's request in the case "Prlic and Others".
ICTY judges today turned down the request which refers to the trial of Gotovina, Markac and Cermak, explaining that the status of amicus curiae was generally granted to help the tribunal clarify legal questions, while Croatia, they said, was trying to influence cases which referred exclusively to questions regarding facts, the news agency AFP reported.
The Trial Chamber said in its decision that Croatia's request referred mainly to the establishment of facts and recalled that under ICTY rules, the presentation of facts is within the jurisdiction of the parties in the proceedings, and not of friends of the court.
The Trial Chamber also said that most facts Croatia wanted to tackle were too broad in relation to the indictment and that to consider them would not be of help to the Trial Chamber in the case.
The judges further said that if Croatia was in possession of any information relevant to the proceedings, it could submit it to either party in the proceedings.
Generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac are indicted for crimes committed during and in the aftermath of the Croatian military and police operation "Storm", which the indictment alleges was part of "a joint criminal enterprise".
The Bosnian Croat political and military leadership in the case "Prlic and Others" is indicted for crimes committed during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, also within "a joint criminal enterprise".