ZAGREB, April 15 (Hina) - Justice Minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt expressed hope on Thursday that a report by the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal on Croatia's cooperation would be positive.
ZAGREB, April 15 (Hina) - Justice Minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt expressed
hope on Thursday that a report by the chief prosecutor of the
Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal on Croatia's cooperation would be
positive.#L#
"I hope Carla del Ponte's opinion will be positive," Skare Ozbolt told
reporters in Zagreb.
She added that Croatia had done all it could to obtain a positive
opinion, the so-called avis, from the European Commission, citing
judicial reform and cooperation with the Hague tribunal.
"I think Croatia has fully met all the conditions and there are no
major obstacles to receiving a positive avis," the justice minister
said.
Skare Ozbolt said that by the end of the year Croatian courts would be
ready to take over war crimes trials if such an offer came from the
Hague tribunal.
All county courts would be able to try war crimes, but investigations
would be conducted only by investigative centres at county courts in
Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Osijek.
The minister stressed the need for all documents and testimonies
regarding Croatia's war of independence to be collected at one place.
She said that it was also necessary to set up an international expert
team consisting of politicians, military strategists, journalists and
other persons who were present in Croatia during the 1991-1995 war and
could testify to what had really happened.
Skare Ozbolt said that Croatia was looking at ways of helping General
Rahim Ademi cover the costs of his defence before the Hague tribunal,
but that no final decision had been made yet.
She confirmed that Croatia had already provided guarantees for
indictees with dual citizenship of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina so
that they could be granted a pre-trial release.
(Hina) vm sb