SARAJEVO, May 21 (Hina) - Croatian Supreme Court President Ivica Crnic has said that the Croatian judiciary is prepared to take over the job of processing war crimes cases which the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) may hand over, and added that he has not yet received any official information about the possible hand-over of cases.
SARAJEVO, May 21 (Hina) - Croatian Supreme Court President Ivica
Crnic has said that the Croatian judiciary is prepared to take over
the job of processing war crimes cases which the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) may hand over,
and added that he has not yet received any official information
about the possible hand-over of cases. #L#
"I only received informal information that the ICTY will let the
Croatian judiciary process a part of the cases," Crnic told
reporters on Wednesday in Sarajevo where he is leading a delegation
of the Croatian Supreme Court on a two-day visit.
ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte said in Sarajevo on Tuesday
she was considering the possibility of transferring cases, such as
that of Croatian General Rahim Ademi, to Croatian courts, but added
that no final decision had been made yet.
Crnic maintains that Croatian judges can lead such cases, having
gained significant experience in a series of cases, and not only the
well-known Gospic Group and Lora trials as it is often simplified in
the public.
"Our judges are trained and able to lead such cases and there is no
problem in that. The problem arises only because of polarisation in
the public, when one side is unconditionally for the release of
suspects, while the other is for their conviction," Crnic said and
called on the Croatian public to restrain from such political
pressure on the judiciary so that it can fulfil its tasks, taking
into consideration only evidence and facts.
The president of the Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Martin Raguz,
told reporters that Prosecutor Del Ponte yesterday confirmed to him
that the UN war crimes tribunal was willing to hand over four or five
war crimes cases to Sarajevo.
Raguz declined to give names of the suspects in the cases, but said
the offer covered the cases in which there were already indictments
and indictees were now in custody in The Hague. However, amendments
to relevant laws should be made, funds secured, and mixed trial
chambers appointed before Bosnia can take over the processes, Raguz
said.
In the Bosnian capital, Raguz and Crnic discussed cooperation of
the judicial authorities of the two countries and the status of
judges. They positively assessed initial experiences which the two
countries had so far gained in combining the Anglo-Saxon and
Continental European law.
On the first day of its visit to Bosnia, the Supreme Court
delegation was received by the Bosnian ministerial council's
chairman, Adnan Terzic, and Justice Minister Slobodan Kovac.
(hina) ms