ZAGREB, June 11 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian government's office for cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal at The Hague (ICTY), Goran Granic, has said President Stjepan Mesic's initiative in resolving the
"Gotovina case" is welcome, but believes that it is not possible to implement it in its entirety.
ZAGREB, June 11 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian government's
office for cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal
at The Hague (ICTY), Goran Granic, has said President Stjepan
Mesic's initiative in resolving the "Gotovina case" is welcome, but
believes that it is not possible to implement it in its entirety.
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Any initiative which may help solve the situation in which we all
are hostage to the present state of affairs is welcome, Granic told
reporters in parliament, commenting on Mesic's announcement that
he will suggest to the ICTY to review the indictment against
Croatian General Ante Gotovina and that he is prepared to guarantee
that the general will respond to any call by the tribunal's
prosecution if he is given the chance to give a statement in Zagreb
as a suspect.
Granic said he did not expect additional pressure from The Hague.
Pressure from the ICTY is unnecessary because the government's
stand is clear, he said, stressing that there was great probability
that Gotovina was outside of Croatia and unavailable to Croatian
authorities.
It is possible that an interview with Gotovina take place at The
Hague in some form before he officially answers to the indictment,
Granic said. This could lead to the realisation of the idea that,
after new information from the trial of former Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic, Gotovina's indictment be corrected in some
parts.
Asked whether that meant that Gotovina could go to The Hague
notwithstanding the arrest warrant, Granic said it would be most
desirable if the retired general contacted the tribunal on his own
accord and started talks before officially entering his plea.
This opens up the possibility of the prosecution partially
correcting the indictment, Granic said, but added that all these
were speculations and presumptions.
It is difficult to estimate how realistic it would be for Gotovina's
status as an indictee to change into that of a suspect, he added.
But, in every process the prosecution may abandon the indictment on
the basis of an estimate about the gravity of evidence and
probability that the collected evidence would not be able to prove
allegations from the indictment, Granic said.
(hina) lml sb