ZAGREB ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - Croatian Vice-Premier Goran Granic has voiced optimism about the upcoming visit of the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal, who is to arrive in Zagreb on October 6.
ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - Croatian Vice-Premier Goran Granic has
voiced optimism about the upcoming visit of the chief prosecutor of
the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal, who is to arrive in Zagreb
on October 6. #L#
Granic is confident that the assessment of cooperation between the
Croatian government and the tribunal, as well as the case of
fugitive General Ante Gotovina, would be agreed on in detail during
the visit.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Granic repeated that in the past
two years the government had not obtained a single piece of evidence
indicating that the general, indicted by the tribunal, was in
Croatia.
"Those who claim to have information on Gotovina being in Croatia
should either submit that information or keep silent," said Granic,
who talked with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, in The
Hague yesterday.
He refused to comment on Del Ponte's spokeswoman Florance
Hartmann's statement after yesterday's meeting, describing it as
unnecessary and not in the function of the meeting.
Hartmann said that the tribunal's prosecution and Croatian
authorities had completely opposed information as to Gotovina's
whereabouts, and added that the tribunal had information that
Gotovina was in Croatia.
Granic said that over the past four weeks the government's office
for cooperation with the tribunal and Del Ponte's office had been
making an inventory of the tribunal's requests so that the
assessment of their cooperation could be based on facts.
Croatia expects the assessment to be positive, he added.
Granic said the Croatian side proposed that during Del Ponte's
visit minutes be taken about every case, defining its status, so as
to prevent future misunderstandings.
He described the current situation as unsustainable and benefiting
neither the government nor the tribunal.
The vice-premier said that yesterday's meeting did not address new
indictments. He said that Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic had
submitted a report on some 4,000 criminal proceedings related to
war crimes which the State Prosecution had conducted since 1991.
Granic believes that the cooperation between the State Prosecution
and the tribunal would be very intensive in the future as it had been
announced that Croatia would take over some cases from the
tribunal. Which cases could be transferred to Croatia was not
discussed, he added.
Del Ponte will meet Bajic during her visit, he said.
(hina) rml