ZAGREB, Jan 20 (Hina) - The Croatian Judges' Association (UHS) has condemned pressure exerted on judges and insists that relevant state bodies take measures against two leaders of a war veterans association who made threats in
relation to the trial of General Mirko Norac, of the so-called Gospic Group, as they, the association explains, have committed a crime by exerting pressure on the judge in that case.
ZAGREB, Jan 20 (Hina) - The Croatian Judges' Association (UHS) has
condemned pressure exerted on judges and insists that relevant
state bodies take measures against two leaders of a war veterans
association who made threats in relation to the trial of General
Mirko Norac, of the so-called Gospic Group, as they, the
association explains, have committed a crime by exerting pressure
on the judge in that case. #L#
Two days ago, Ante Jozic and Ante Smolje, the president and
spokesman of the local association of war veterans in the Cetina
area, from where Gen. Norac comes, said at a news conference that
Norac must be acquitted and that any other verdict would be treated
as an offence to veterans. They also asserted that they were
prepared to incite civil disobedience in case of a conviction.
In a press release of Monday, the judges' association head,
Vladimir Gredelj, described such statements as the strongest and
most blatant pressure on a court registered in Croatia lately.
Gredelj said he could understand the veterans' need to demonstrate
their confidence in the innocence of one of their comrades and their
unreserved loyalty and support to him, although he was charged with
war crimes, but, Gredelj said, the status of veterans - defenders of
the homeland - did not give anybody the right to ignore the Croatian
legal order and tell the court which decision it must take.
(hina) ms sb