ZAGREB, Oct 29 (Hina) - The Croatian government met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss a decision by the parliament under which all persons indicted or suspected by the Hague war crimes tribunal and their attorneys must be
provided with the necessary documents.
ZAGREB, Oct 29 (Hina) - The Croatian government met behind closed
doors on Wednesday to discuss a decision by the parliament under
which all persons indicted or suspected by the Hague war crimes
tribunal and their attorneys must be provided with the necessary
documents. #L#
The government concluded it would implement the parliament's
decision in accordance with the rights and duties of Croatia
arising from the constitutional law on cooperation with the
tribunal and the tribunal's statute and rules of procedure.
The government said in its conclusion that each suspect or indictee
may examine all available documents or may for this purpose
authorise a defence attorney whose status has been appropriately
approved.
It was not specified what "appropriately approved" meant.
A source who attended the session told Hina that Prime Minister
Ivica Racan said that the government had to respect the rule of law
rather than follow "the logic of politics", adding that it was fully
clear what the status of appropriately approved defence counsel
meant.
The government adopted the conclusion with Ante Simonic of the
Peasant Party (HSS) abstaining from the vote, the source said.
Simonic wanted to know what the conclusion meant for fugitive
Croatian Army general Ante Gotovina and whether his attorneys could
examine the documents. The answer he was given was in the negative,
the source said.
Other HSS ministers did not participate in the vote either.
Vladimir Strugar was absent, while Zeljko Pecek and Bozidar
Pankretic were not in the conference room during the vote, although
they attended the session, the source said.
The government said that relevant documents could be made available
to war crimes suspects wanted by the Hague tribunal in accordance
with a declaration adopted by parliament in April 2000.
The government expressed its determination to continue cooperating
with the Hague tribunal, but also to enable all suspects and
indictees to defend themselves, respecting the norms of Croatian
law and international legal commitments.
(hina) vm sb