ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - Great Britain on Thursday requested of the Croatian government to urgently and unconditionally extradite retired General Janko Bobetko to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
It pointed out that as a member of the UN, Croatia was obliged to cooperate with the tribunal, and on this cooperation depended its integration into NATO and the European Union, the Foreign Office said in a press release.
ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - Great Britain on Thursday requested of the
Croatian government to urgently and unconditionally extradite
retired General Janko Bobetko to the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It pointed out that as a
member of the UN, Croatia was obliged to cooperate with the
tribunal, and on this cooperation depended its integration into
NATO and the European Union, the Foreign Office said in a press
release. #L#
This is the first official foreign reaction to the Bobetko case.
The press release sent to Hina by the British Embassy in Croatia
said that Foreign Office Minister Denis MacShane had urged the
government to immediately hand over General Janko Bobetko to ICTY.
"We urge the Government of Croatia to fulfil its international
obligations, and comply unconditionally with the indictment
against General Bobetko. It must ensure his immediate arrest and
transfer to The Hague," MacShane said.
The minister recalled that cooperation with the tribunal was the
obligation of all UN members, "regardless of their domestic law",
and warned that Croatia's integration into NATO and the European
Union were conditional upon its cooperation with ICTY.
The British government, therefore, "fully endorse (Croatian)
President Stjepan Mesic's statement calling for unconditional
cooperation with the international tribunal."
"It is not for any government to assess the guilt or innocence of an
indictee. Only the tribunal itself can make that judgement after a
full and impartial examination of the facts," the minister said.
(hina) lml sb