ZAGREB, May 10 (Hina) - From her very first contacts with Croatian representatives after the issuing of the indictment against Croatian general Ante Gotovina, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former
Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla del Ponte, has remained consistent in her decision not to amend the indictment until the beginning of the trial, a high government official said on Friday.
ZAGREB, May 10 (Hina) - From her very first contacts with Croatian
representatives after the issuing of the indictment against
Croatian general Ante Gotovina, the Chief Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY),
Carla del Ponte, has remained consistent in her decision not to
amend the indictment until the beginning of the trial, a high
government official said on Friday. #L#
"There is no political solution for Gotovina," and there is no UN
body that can change the Tribunal's decision, the government source
said.
"No one can do anything in this regard. This is a cemented matter,"
said the official.
General Gotovina was indicted last July in line with command
responsibility for crimes committed during the "Storm" military
operation and since then has been in hiding.
In discussions with del Ponte to date, Croatian officials have
requested that the context of the charges be changed, pointing to
del Ponte's indictment against former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic, which clearly identifies the aggressor in the region of
the former Yugoslavia.
In the Gotovina indictment, the former Croatian state leadership is
accused of the expulsion, i.e. ethnic cleansing of the Serb
population.
The ICTY chief prosecutor has been informed about evidence proving
that the Croatian Serb leadership had in 1993 already planned the
evacuation of the Serb population and that Milan Martic had issued
an evacuation order on July 27, 1995, several days before the
beginning of the "Storm" operation, the source said.
Speaking about an agreement between the Hague prosecution on the
transfer of part of evidence on war crimes to Croatian courts, so
that they could prosecute them, the government source said that
Croatia was faced with a series of problems in that regard.
"War crimes are simply shied away from, both those committed
against Croats and those committed against Serbs," the source
said.
The Supreme Court and State Prosecution believe that the Croatian
judiciary is capable of conducting war crimes trials and
discussions on how to do this are under way. There is a possibility
that experts in the field will carry out investigations, after
which the Supreme Court will determine the court to conduct the
trial.
The Croatian government believes that in the eyes of the Hague
tribunal the trial of the "Gospic Group" for crimes committed
against Serbs is a test of the readiness and ability of the Croatian
judiciary to process war crimes. That is why the transfer of trials
against highly positioned suspects to the domestic judiciary
cannot be expected before the completion of the Gospic Group trial,
the source said.
Asked about the possibility for the Tribunal to issue new
indictments in the autumn, the government official said, "I
wouldn't be surprised", adding that it was well known that the Hague
prosecution's investigation into crimes committed during
operations "Storm" and "Medak Pocket" had not stopped after the
issuing of two indictments.
(hina) sp sb