ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - Croatia will continue cooperating with the Hague-based tribunal in line with the constitutional law which stipulates how the government will cooperate with the ICTY, the head of the government's office for
cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal, Orsat Miljanic, said on Thursday.
ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - Croatia will continue cooperating with the
Hague-based tribunal in line with the constitutional law which
stipulates how the government will cooperate with the ICTY, the
head of the government's office for cooperation with the UN war
crimes tribunal, Orsat Miljanic, said on Thursday. #L#
Asked by the anchorwoman of the Croatian television's news
broadcast "Meridijan 16" whether Zagreb would continue to
cooperate with the tribunal, which recently forwarded an
indictment against General Janko Bobetko and a warrant for his
arrest, Miljanic answered: "Absolutely, Croatia will not only
continue cooperating, but Croatia is also at this moment
cooperating with the Hague-based tribunal."
"As the cooperation with the tribunal is proceeding in line with the
constitutional law, that constitutional law stipulates not only
possibilities but also the commitment to certain conduct,"
Miljanic said.
He expounded that the prosecution of all perpetrators of war
crimes, regardless of their ethnic or religious origin, was one of
the strategic goals of the government, which could be accomplished
through the cooperation with the Hague-based tribunal, but
primarily through processes conducted by national courts.
The government is using its legal possibilities, as it is convinced
that there are some contradictions (in the Bobetko indictment) with
the Constitution, and there are some contradictions with the
international law, Miljanic said.
Asked whether Croatia would extradite Gen. Bobetko, he answered
that at this moment he "cannot comment on it".
Miljanic said this was about "a legal process, legal issue," which
would be solved through solutions, proposed by Croatian laws, and
if necessary, through solutions proposed by the Statute and rules
of the said tribunal.
Asked whether the government had known of the Bobetko indictment in
April and whether it could better prepared itself, Miljanic said
that "document" was only "relevant" in the relations with the
tribunal.
"Only when the government possesses documents, it can then act
according to it," he explained.