ZAGREB, June 12 (Hina) - The best solution for the case of fugitive General Ante Gotovina would be his going to The Hague, Frano Krnic, head of the Croatian government's commission for cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal,
told state television on Wednesday.
ZAGREB, June 12 (Hina) - The best solution for the case of fugitive
General Ante Gotovina would be his going to The Hague, Frano Krnic,
head of the Croatian government's commission for cooperation with
the U.N. war crimes tribunal, told state television on Wednesday.
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Krnic said the government would help defend Gotovina in every way
possible, giving guarantees possible under the law and
participating in the amici curiae process.
That would be useful for both Croatia, whose interests are attacked
in the Gotovina indictment, and the retired general himself, said
Krnic, who estimated the prospect of Gotovina going to The Hague was
"realistic".
Krnic said that technically and theoretically, the prosecutor was
entitled to withdraw the indictment against Gotovina at any time.
He added, however, there were a spate of legal problems preventing
chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte from acting independently, such as
the withdrawal of the arrest order and the international Interpol
arrest warrant. He said the Hague tribunal did not easily withdraw
indictments.
Krnic further said that the U.N. court, in its reaction to an
interview Gotovina granted a Croatian magazine earlier this week,
ruled out the possibility of Gotovina being granted the status of a
suspect.
Krnic said he doubted Del Ponte would be willing to withdraw the
indictment or change Gotovina's status due to lack of or new
evidence because in his case, as that of the only high-ranked
indictee from Croatia, the chief prosecutor was building the image
of her office and of her own task.
Krnic commended Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's decision
yesterday to propose to the Hague tribunal to re-examine the
Gotovina indictment.
Krnic said the fugitive general "should not gamble away" this
opportunity, and that all who wished for Gotovina, his family, and
Croatia to "come out of this hostage situation" should advise those
with influence to make decisions to make sure Gotovina showed up.
He said the investing of any legal means by the government at this
moment would only aggravate Gotovina's standing.
"Unfortunately, the Hague prosecutor's office holds in its hands a
significant lever of dosing the rhythm and pace of Croatia's
drawing closer to the European Union," Krnic told Croatian
Television.
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