ZAGREB, June 20 (Hina) - The Municipal Court in Zagreb on Thursday adopted a request of General Ante Gotovina's team of attorneys that the government hand over documentation on General Gotovina which had been forwarded to the
Hague-based war crimes tribunal.
ZAGREB, June 20 (Hina) - The Municipal Court in Zagreb on Thursday
adopted a request of General Ante Gotovina's team of attorneys that
the government hand over documentation on General Gotovina which
had been forwarded to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. #L#
According to a decision, the government is obliged to forward to the
defence team 77 wanted documents, including orders, transcripts,
video and audio tapes, minutes, reports and diaries regarding
Croatian army operations in which Gotovina had participated. The
majority of the documentation refers to the 1995 military and
police operation Storm.
The government dismissed the request last year, contesting the
attorneys the status of defence lawyers and claiming they had
requested the documentation to be able to prepare the defence
before the UN war crimes tribunal, for which they had not been
appointed.
Following the government's decision, the attorneys filed charges
at the Municipal Court saying that the government had prevented the
defence of General Gotovina by not forwarding the documents. The
attorneys said the government's decision violated Gotovina's legal
and constitutional rights.
The defence team said in a statement that "general Gotovina's
attorneys hope that the court's verdict has put an end to an absurd
situation in which the executive authority was preventing General
Gotovina from exercising his legal and constitutional rights."
(hina) it sb