DOCUMENTS ON GOTOVINA COLLECTED AT DEFENCE'S INITIATIVE - LAWYER

ZAGREB, June 14 (Hina) - The defence of fugitive Hague war crimes tribunal indictee Ante Gotovina said on Saturday the documentation the government said yesterday it had received from President Stjepan Mesic's office for the purpose of having the Gotovina indictment re-examined had been collected at the defence team's initiative. #L# A statement signed by attorney Marijan Pedisic said the defence team did not have information to the effect that the government had forwarded said documentation to the Hague prosecutor's office. The five documents received from Mesic's office refer to the organisation of the departure of Croatian Serbs ahead of 1995's Operation Storm and with their content complement the documentation already forwarded to the Hague prosecutor's office, the government said yesterday. The rest of the documents from Mesic's office refer to Gotovina's orders initiating disciplinary and other proceedings against a number of Croatian troops. There are no orders among them which might refer to the punishment or reporting of subordinates for the perpetration of grave or war crimes. Bearing in mind that Gotovina may have issued such orders, the government has already referred to Croatian bodies to retrieve them if they exist so that they may be forwarded to the Hague prosecutor's office, read the statement. (hina) ha