GOTOVINA'S LAWYER DISSATISFIED WITH GOVERNMENT'S DECISION

CHICAGO/ZAGREB, Oct 29 (Hina) - The Croatian government's decision on parliament's conclusion concerning the delivery of documents to people accused or suspected by the Hague war crimes tribunal is not in keeping with Croatian laws and has no legal footing, Luka Misetic, fugitive indictee Ante Gotovina's American lawyer, said on Wednesday. #L# "The Croatian government's decision is not in accordance with either the law or parliament's conclusion. With its decision, instead of acting in line with the law, the government is fulfilling prosecutor Carla Del Ponte's wishes, which have no legal basis," Misetic told Hina over the telephone from Chicago. He also slammed today's comment from Del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence Hartmann, who said the government had shown it honoured its commitments towards the U.N. tribunal. "Hartmann never said which paragraph of the Hague tribunal's Statute or Rules of Procedure and Evidence prohibits a sovereign country from delivering its documents to whomever it wants," Misetic said. He added it was "absolutely untrue" that Croatia was legally bound not to submit documents to Gotovina's defence team. "I'm calling on the Croatian government and Carla Del Ponte to state which article of the tribunal's Statute or Rulebook prohibits that or stop misleading the public with that assumption" Misetic said. (hina) ha sb