ZAGREB, Feb 2(Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in an interview with Monday's issue of Jutarnji List daily the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) would issue two more indictments referring to the 1995
Croatian army operation "Storm".
ZAGREB, Feb 2(Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in an
interview with Monday's issue of Jutarnji List daily the UN war crimes
tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) would issue two more
indictments referring to the 1995 Croatian army operation "Storm".#L#
"From what I know, two new indictments will arrive, but I do not know
who will be indicted. At this moment only Carla Del Ponte and the
judge who is to confirm the indictments know that," Mesic said.
The indictments refer to the area in which investigators from The
Hague "were very much interested in recent months", Mesic said. When
asked if the operation under investigation was Operation "Storm", he
answered in the affirmative.
Asked to comment on an interview ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte
gave to Croatian Television and if he had the impression that the
tribunal had adopted a milder attitude towards Croatia following
engagement by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Foreign Minister Miomir
Zuzul, Mesic said he did not believe in the tribunal adopting a milder
attitude to Croatia. "The Hague has strict rules, to which it has
always abided. I think that flexibility would be a better expression,
which means that general positions remain the same, with a slightly
more flexible approach", he said.
Commenting on the case of runaway general Ante Gotovina, Mesic said
that Gotovina had to answer the tribunal's questions and the only way
he could do it was to appear before the tribunal. "Only that way can
the tribunal allow him to defend himself without being put in its
custody," he said, adding that "in case of his surrender, it is very
possible that he would be allowed to defend himself without being put
in the tribunal's custody".
Asked to comment on the tribunal's intention to transfer the remaining
war crimes cases to Croatian courts, Mesic repeated that
responsibility for war crimes was individual and should be established
by Croatian courts. "Certainly, they must operate in line with the
best judicial practice and not amnesty anyone. One should not forget
that The Hague will closely monitor all trials that are conducted in
Croatia, as it has been doing so far".
Answering questions about some current topics, Mesic said that he had
not been in any conflict with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). "I
accepted the stand of Croatian citizens, the electorate which elected
the authorities which it wanted. The strongest party in the new
authorities is the HDZ, which formed the executive authorities (...) I
am obliged to cooperate with legislative and executive authorities. As
long as my constitutional powers are not interfered with, we can
cooperate. But should those powers be threatened, I will make it
public".
Asked if he expected the support of the HDZ in the upcoming
presidential elections, Mesic said he did not know which parties would
support his candidacy. "I expect that along with citizens, who
contributed the most to my holding this post today, some political
parties and some non-political associations will give their support
(...) I do not exclude the possibility of the HDZ being among them,
nor the possibility of support from opposition parties."
Asked if there was incongruity between his position and that of the
HDZ with regard to foreign policy, Mesic said, among other things,
that he only wanted numerous outstanding issues to be solved as soon
as possible.
Those issues include the ratification of the agreement on succession
to the former Yugoslav federation, which will unblock 150 million
dollars deposited in foreign banks, as well as the issue of Russia's
clearing debt, he said.
"As regards solutions the government has been looking for with regard
to US positions, the government is bound to look for them. We must
protect our position and avoid getting into a conflict with Europe and
the United States. The government must take care of that, but we must
stick to some principles. If the army is sent out of the country, it
must be done in line with a UN resolution and the Croatian parliament
must make a decision to that effect," Mesic said.
(Hina) rml