"I expect much more discipline in the Interior Ministry. This was just the first replacement. There will be more," Sanader told the press at the Zagreb Trade Fair Centre when asked if he expected less information leakage from the ministry following Cestar's replacement.
The ministry said in a press release yesterday Cestar was replaced due to oversights in the organisation of the Crime Investigation Department, which he had headed since 2000. The press release did not elaborate on the oversights.
Ministry spokesman Zlatko Mehun said oversights had been made during police checks and investigations in connection with Ante Gotovina, the fugitive general wanted by the Hague war crimes tribunal, and the search for a person who disclosed a state secret. He added Cestar was not suspected of the leaking of ministry information which was being investigated.
Citing unofficial and unnamed sources, today's print media said Cestar was in fact replaced because of information leakage. They allege that his replacement is linked with the publication of a secret document which British intelligence sent to Croatia's Counterintelligence Agency (POA).
According to the media, POA allegedly asked to be engaged in tracking down the person who had leaked the document to the press and thus revealed a state secret, but Cestar refused. He allegedly said POA was not authorised to collect data and insisted that the Crime Investigation Department carried out the investigation alone, starting it at POA.