"The authenticity of an individual piece of evidence is established in line with legal regulations, under certain procedure, and by competent bodies," the ministry said in a statement.
In its Tuesday issue, the Nacional weekly reports that General Ante Gotovina's attorney Luka Misetic on November 17 sent a letter to Kenneth Scott, the chief prosecutor in the case of the runaway Croatian general, stating that he had learned of the involvement of the tribunal's prosecution in an attempt to obstruct the establishment of a parliamentary commission to investigate, among other things, the authenticity of the disputed Brijuni transcripts.
The weekly quotes Misetic as saying that he had learned of ICTY Liaison Office chief Thomas Osorio having intervened and conveyed to the Justice Ministry the position of the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte.
According to Misetic's letter, del Ponte said that the establishment of a parliamentary commission to investigate the authenticity of transcripts from the office of former Croatian president Franjo Tudjman would be perceived as an act questioning the Croatian government's cooperation with the UN tribunal.
The weekly said that in his reply of November 19 Scott dismissed Misetic's claims as unfounded and indirectly confirmed that the Hague tribunal had nothing against an investigation into the authenticity of the disputed transcripts.
The weekly reports that Gotovina too had requested investigating the authenticity of the documents and through his attorneys in October this year pressed charges against an unidentified person for forging the documents.