LAUSIC DECLINES COMMENT ON INTERVIEW WITH TRIBUNAL INVESTIGATORS

ZAGREB, May 13 (Hina) - Retired General Mate Lausic, a former commander of the Croatian military police, on Thursday evening wrapped up the first day of his interview with investigators from the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal in the tribunal's office in Zagreb.#L# After the end of the first day of the interrogation, Lausic declined to respond to reporters' questions about the nine-hour-long interview. No answer was given either about the capacity in which Lausic was being interviewed or about tomorrow's continuation of the interview. The Justice Ministry and defence lawyers also declined to answer if Lausic was interviewed as a witness or a suspect. Lausic's attorney, Jadranka Slokovic, said her client insisted on this position towards the media. Assistant Justice Minister Jaksa Muljacic, who is in charge of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), said this evening that he could not say anything if Gen. Lausic himself did not want to give any statement. Commenting on media speculation that after Lausic, the next man to be interviewed on Friday was Zdravko Janic, the commander of the Interior Ministry special police, Muljacic said that this information was absolutely wrong. "I spoke with Janic and told him that no summons had arrived for him," Assistant Justice Minsiter added. It was previously reported that the ICTY was interested in interviewing Lausic in connection with the 1993 Medak Pocket Operation, as well as operations Storm and Flash that were carried out in 1995. Lausic was military police chief from 1991 to 2000. According to unofficial sources, Lausic brought along documents to the interview evidencing measures that had been taken by the military police against alleged perpetrators of crimes committed during and in the wake of the liberating operations. (Hina) ms