"There is internal control for such cases, which checks all claims and acts accordingly," Mlinaric told reporters in the Interior Ministry.
Asked whether senior ministry official Gojko Markovic, the brother-in-law of one of Gotovina's attorneys, was dismissed on suspicion of obstructing the search, as claimed by a Croatian weekly, the minister said that he was not familiar with the weekly's claims.
"The Interior Ministry reacts only to information that has been checked and if we discover conduct contrary to the government's position, we will act in line with the law," Mlinaric said.
The police are checking all information they receive about Gotovina's whereabouts, but all information received so far has proven false, the minister said.
Asked whether the police were familiar with the identity of the Italian citizen - Gotovina's lookalike who was spotted in the Croatian coastal town of Brela last summer, Mlinaric said that the police knew his name, but he would not disclose it. The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague has been informed about the man's identity, and one of the reasons why the police do not want to reveal his identity is the fact that he is a foreign national, Mlinaric said.
"When the information is ready for publishing, we will give it to the media," said the minister, refusing to say whether some of the Croatian media had published the correct name of the person.
Asked about the authenticity of media claims that police were requested to provide protection for Gotovina's children, Mlinaric said that protection had been sought for only one child and the request was still being considered, while the mother of the other child, Dunja Zloic Gotovina, had not given approval for such a request.