ZAGREB, July 23 (Hina) - The Croatian defence ministry has managed to identify certain documents asked by a lawyer of retired major-general Luka Dzanko, suspected by the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal of breaking humanitarian law.
It is questionable whether the rest of documents lawyer Nenad Boban asked for is stored in the ministry's archives, it said in a press release on Wednesday.
ZAGREB, July 23 (Hina) - The Croatian defence ministry has managed
to identify certain documents asked by a lawyer of retired major-
general Luka Dzanko, suspected by the Hague-based UN war crimes
tribunal of breaking humanitarian law. It is questionable whether
the rest of documents lawyer Nenad Boban asked for is stored in the
ministry's archives, it said in a press release on Wednesday. #L#
The ministry stated that in searching for said documents, it acted
in line with general and specific rules regulating classified
archive material. It "refutes allegations about a selective
approach towards some individuals, as it was reported in the media
on 21 and 22 July".
Dzanko is suspected by the ICTY of breaching humanitarian law at the
southern front during the Homeland War. His lawyer told Hina on
Tuesday that he had not received any of the eight documents he had
requested.
The government's office for public relations confirmed in a
statement yesterday that the requested documents had not been found
yet, but said the government was investing every effort to find them
and forward them to Dzanko on time.
Boban voiced fear he might receive the documents at the last minute.
The interview with Dzanko has been scheduled for Thursday and
Friday.
The attorney requested eight documents from the defence ministry,
the government, and the President's Office a fortnight ago. Six are
orders issued by the military chief-of-staff.
Investigators with the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia wish
to interview Dzanko about war-time events from 1991 and 1992, when
he was a military commander.
According to the defence ministry's press release, the ministry
received certain requests for documents from Boban on 8 July and
certain requests from the government two days later. After that,
competent bodies within the ministry acted in compliance with
general and specific rules on the treatment of classified materials
in the archives and according to usual practice in the processing of
requests for documents relevant for the cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY),
read the press release.
As a result, the ministry personnel managed to find certain
documents, while it is questionable whether the rest is stored in
the ministry's archives, it added.
At the end of the press release, the ministry rebutted allegations
published in some media about its selective approach towards some
individuals.