"Acting in line with the tribunal's order to Hrvatsko Slovo to stop publishing the statements and testimonies of protected witnesses, we have requested the Police Directorate to establish who made the transcripts available to the weekly," Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Dragan Novosel told Hina.
Novosel explained that the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office made the request because the tribunal had urged the Croatian authorities to provide it with any information regarding the identity of those potentially responsible for the illegal disclosure of the transcripts and violations of the related orders and decisions of the tribunal regarding the protection of witnesses.
Novosel would not elaborate on the measures which the prosecution had requested the police to take.
Confirming receipt of the request, Interior Ministry spokesman Zlatko Mehun said that the police would inform the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office about its findings, but he would not say which measures the police would take either.
The Hague war crimes tribunal on Thursday ordered Hrvatsko Slovo to stop publication of statements and testimonies of a protected witness who had appeared in the trial of Bosnian Croat general Tihomir Blaskic, and of any other protected witness.
Anyone violating this order may be subject to punishment of up to seven years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 100,000 euros, the tribunal said in a statement.
The Justice Ministry and the Zagreb County Court today stated that the tribunal's order was sent to Hrvatsko Slovo and its publishers Stjepan Seselj and Domagoj Margetic.
None of the weekly's staff wanted to comment on the case or confirm receipt of the tribunal's order. The weekly's former editor, Domagoj Margetic, said that he had not received any order and that the order referred to articles published after he left the weekly.
The tribunal stated that on December 1, 2004, the Prosecution filed an ex parte and confidential "Urgent Motion for an Order for the Immediate Cessation of Violations of Protective Measures".