ZAGREB, Sept 4 (Hina) - Neven Madey, Croatia's Ambassador to the Council of Europe, on Wednesday presented COE Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer with a response by Croatia's chief of diplomacy to a letter that Slovenia's Foreign
Minister previously sent to Schwimmer concerning the Jozko Joras case.
ZAGREB, Sept 4 (Hina) - Neven Madey, Croatia's Ambassador to the
Council of Europe, on Wednesday presented COE Secretary-General
Walter Schwimmer with a response by Croatia's chief of diplomacy to
a letter that Slovenia's Foreign Minister previously sent to
Schwimmer concerning the Jozko Joras case. #L#
In the letter, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula amongst else
notes that because of its legal nature, the Joras case does not
require internationalisation and that it had been unnecessarily
politicised.
In response to the letter by his Slovene colleague Dimitrij Rupel,
Picula emphasised that there was no violation of human rights in the
case but rather that this dealt with a lawful action by the
judiciary to the fact that Jozko Joras rejected to pay fines on
several occasions and as such he was sentenced to 30 days
imprisonment.
If Jozko Joras pays the fines, Picula's letter notes, he will be
released immediately, a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry
reported.
In his letter, Minister Picula adds that from the reactions and
behaviour of the Slovene government to the Joras case, it is evident
that he was exploited for political purposes and that cases similar
to Joras' would have been dealt with by Slovenia in the same way.
Jozko Joras, a Slovene citizen from the Croatian village of Mlini
near Buje, does not recognise Croatia's sovereignty in that
village.
(hina) sp ms