HSLS DISAPPOINTED WITH RESPONSE OF POLITICAL PARTIES TO HAGUE TRIBUNAL INDICTMENTS

ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - The Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) on Thursday expressed disappointment at the way most political parties responded to the indictment against generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac and the amended indictment against General Ante Gotovina.#L# Speaking at a press conference, HSLS president Ivan Cehok said he was disappointed with the response of political parties, adding that the two generals had responded to the accusations better than the parties. He stressed that "true patriotism lies in respect for the rule of law". Cehok said that Croatia should have responded to "the unacceptable political allegations from the Hague tribunal" before, during the term of the previous government and even before that, while the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was in power. The HSLS leader proposed that an office be set up to establish the historical truth about the Homeland War, which he said should be done by historians, in order to avoid inappropriate public debates on the nature of the war. Party vice-president Djurdja Adlesic reiterated that the HSLS was opposed to the idea of convening an extraordinary parliamentary session on the subject of the indictments issued by the Hague tribunal, because it could only make the government's relations with the tribunal more difficult. (Hina) vm sb