ZAGREB, Feb 1(Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, said in an interview with Croatian Television on Saturday she hoped the new Croatian government would
cooperate fully with the tribunal and that she would be able to submit a positive report on the cooperation to the European Union. She also said that there were "very few" new indictments referring to Croatia and that the tribunal would transfer its first cases for prosecution by the Croatian judiciary in spring.
ZAGREB, Feb 1(Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes
tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, said in an
interview with Croatian Television on Saturday she hoped the new
Croatian government would cooperate fully with the tribunal and that
she would be able to submit a positive report on the cooperation to
the European Union. She also said that there were "very few" new
indictments referring to Croatia and that the tribunal would transfer
its first cases for prosecution by the Croatian judiciary in spring.#L#
Del Ponte reiterated her call on retired Croatian general Ante
Gotovina to surrender and expressed readiness to enable him to defend
himself without being in the tribunal's custody.
The chief ICTY prosecutor said she hoped the tribunal would cooperate
fully with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. She expressed satisfaction with
Sanader's promise of cooperation, adding that she did not believe that
there would be any problems with the new government.
It is the tribunal that will offer the most support to Croatia on its
path to the EU by reporting to Brussels that Croatia is cooperating
fully with the ICTY, Del Ponte said in the interview with Silvija
Luks.
She announced a possible official visit to Croatia in spring, and when
asked about new indictments, she answered that there were very few new
indictments referring to Croatian citizens.
She was unable to say when the indictments would be issued saying that
it depended on when they would be confirmed by judges.
Del Ponte announced the transfer of the first cases within the
jurisdiction of the Hague-based tribunal to the Croatian judiciary
after her visit to Zagreb in spring.
She said she believed Croatia would be the first country which would
be able to conduct war crimes trials appropriately. The tribunal is
ready to transfer cases as soon as it is ready, she said, adding that
there were problems regarding witness protection and the admissibility
of evidence before Croatian courts.
She stressed that the prosecution was against non-punishment.
Asked about the most controversial case in relations between Croatia
and the ICTY - the case of General Ante Gotovina, who has been on the
run since the tribunal issued an indictment against him in 2001, the
prosecutor repeated her call on the general to surrender.
She said she was surprised at Gotovina's lacking the courage to appear
before the tribunal, considering his courage in the war and his claims
in the media about his innocence. She reiterated that there was no
alternative to Gotovina's appearing before the tribunal and confirming
his innocence.
As the prosecutor, following the investigation, I believe that he
holds a certain amount of responsibility for the crimes that were
committed, she said.
Asked whether she believed that Gotovina was still hiding in Croatia,
Del Ponte said that she did not have any data for January, but that
Gotovina had been hiding and enjoyed protection in Croatia last year.
Asked if she believed that Croatia should be penalised if Gotovina was
not on its territory, regarding her report to the UN Security Council
and the EU's opinion on Croatia's candidacy, Del Ponte said this was
outside the tribunal's jurisdiction and was a matter of the EU's
policy.
Croatia has no other choice. If Gotovina is in Croatia, he must be
arrested or persuaded to surrender. If he is not, Croatia must prove
that he is not in the country. We have not received evidence on his
not being in Croatia, Del Ponte said.
In an informal conversation following the interview, Del Ponte said
that Gotovina would be allowed to defend himself without being placed
in the tribunal's custody, if he surrendered.
She also said that by granting permission for Gotovina's attorneys to
be given documents relevant for his defence she had made an exception
in the tribunal's rules because of the explicit request of the
Croatian prime minister and a ruling of a Croatian court.
Asked about the possibility of amending the indictment against the
general after a revision of the 130 orders he had issued during
Operation "Storm" and given the fact that the first count of his
indictment had proven possibly untenable at the trial for former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Del Ponte said this was
possible theoretically.
Asked about the possibility of Gotovina being tried in Croatia, she
said that this was not possible at the moment.
The ICTY chief prosecutor also spoke about the prosecution's exit
strategy in 2004, the jurisdiction of the international judiciary, the
support of the United States and the EU to the ICTY, her legal career
and other issues.
(Hina) rml