"Today, 28 September 2005, Trial Chamber I issued a warrant for arrest and order for surrender for Josip Jovic after he failed to appear before the Tribunal as he had been ordered. The accused was required to enter a plea at the Tribunal Monday 26 September 2005 to one count of contempt of the Tribunal in The Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaskic case," reads a press release issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on its web site today.
"On Friday 23 September 2005, the Defence counsel for Josip Jovic filed a motion on his behalf requesting a postponement of the initial appearance. The motion was denied the same day, with the accused being instructed through his counsel to attend court for the initial appearance," the release reads.
"The Order requests that the Tribunal"s Registrar arrange with the relevant authorities of the Republic of Croatia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the transfer of the accused to and from the Tribunal."
Later on Wednesday Jovic said he had expected such a warrant, labelling it as gross pressure being exerted on his personal freedom and the journalistic profession.
"I will appear before the County Court in Split. I expect fair treatment in compliance with the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the Hague tribunal. In case of compliance with that law I do not fear the possibility of being extradited, but I am afraid of political pressure on the court," Jovic said in Split.
On 9 September this year, the ICTY issued an indictment against Jovic charging him with publishing in the Slobodna Dalmacija daily the identity and testimony of a protected witness at the trial of Bosnian Croat commander Tihomir Blaskic in March 1998. Jovic published the testimony in the daily in November and December 2000, revealing the identity of the protected witness.
The ICTY has also charged another three Croatian reporters with contempt of court after they disclosed the identity of the same protected witness in the Hrvatsko Slovo weekly in November and December 2004. Those three indictees are Domagoj Margetic, Marijan Krizic and Stjepan Seselj.
In late April this year, the ICTY issued an indictment against the chief editor of the Hrvatski List paper, Ivica Marijacic, and the paper's collaborator, Markica Rebic, a retired general and a former intelligence agent, charging them with revealing the name and publishing the testimony of another protected witness from the Blaskic trial.
All the indictees in question, except Jovic, voluntarily appeared before the UN tribunal and pleaded not guilty.
Under ICTY rules, if found guilty, they may be sent to prison up to seven years or ordered to pay fines up to 100,000 euros. It is possible to combine the penalties.