ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - A judge of the Zagreb Municipal Court, Slavko Pavkovic, has said that over the past 12 month he was unable to convene a hearing in the repeated proceedings "Gotovina vs. Government" due to 'procedural
difficulties', but that he will do so in the coming days.
ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - A judge of the Zagreb Municipal Court,
Slavko Pavkovic, has said that over the past 12 month he was unable
to convene a hearing in the repeated proceedings "Gotovina vs.
Government" due to 'procedural difficulties', but that he will do
so in the coming days. #L#
The proceedings were re-opened after the Zagreb County Court in
October 2002 quashed an interlocutory ruling which ordered the
government to grant the fugitive general Gotovina's lawyers access
to documentation that Zagreb has already sent to the Hague-based UN
war crimes tribunal.
"The hearing is going to be scheduled in the coming days, after
agreement is reached with two other judges, who will sit on the
panel in charge of the case," Pavkovic told Hina on Thursday.
Pavkovic made the said interlocutory ruling in mid-June 2002.
Asked why he failed to convene a hearing in the past 12 months,
Pavkovic said that 'procedural difficulties' prevented him from
doing so, as the suit, lodged by Gotovina's lawyers, was imprecise
and the proceedings could not be repeated.
Imprecise sections of the suit were the reason why the County Court
quashed the ruling of the municipal court, after the government
appealed against the municipal court's decision.
Gotovina's lawyers failed to identify specific documents they
wanted to have an insight in, and that's why the government could
not properly respond.
"A few days ago Gotovina's lawyers sent a corrected version of the
suit in which, they claim, there is a specified list of documents
they request from the government, and this has created conditions
for re-starting proceedings," Judge Pavkovic said.
(hina) ms sb