MINISTER: THERE WILL BE NO NEW INDICTMENTS FROM ICTY

ZAGREB, May 1 (Hina) - Croatian Justice Minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt said on Saturday that there would be no new indictments from the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, but that it was possible that some people would be interviewed by the tribunal's investigators.#L# Skare Ozbolt made the statement when asked to comment on a claim by Croatian Party of Rights parliamentary deputy Pero Kovacevic that the tribunal would issue two new indictments against members of the Croatian military. "At the last meeting with Carla del Ponte we also discussed indictments and it was said that there would be no new indictments," the minister told reporters at the central celebration of Labour Day in Zagreb's Maksimir Park. She added that some persons might be interviewed by the tribunal's investigators. The meeting with del Ponte also addressed the possible transfer of some cases to the Croatian judiciary, Skare Ozbolt said but declined to comment on the cases. The Croatian media have been speculating that the UN tribunal might transfer to Croatian courts the cases of generals Rahim Ademi, Tomislav Mercep and Mirko Norac, and that according to unofficial reports Norac may be indicted for the "Medak Pocket" operation. "It would be best if all cases were transferred to Croatian courts because our judiciary is capable of processing them," the minister said. Commenting on the refusal by the Hague tribunal to grant provisional release for generals Mladen Markac and Ivan Cermak, Skare Ozbolt said the decision did not bring into question the government's guarantees for the generals. "The only problem with that is that Carla del Ponte requested to interview them. But she made it clear that after the interview she would not oppose their request for provisional release," the minister said adding that this could happen in a month and a half at the most. (Hina) rml