ZAGREB, Sept 30 (Hina) - This week the Croatian government will request the Constitutional Court to assess whether an indictment from the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal against General Janko Bobetko complies with the Constitution,
sources at the government announced on Monday.
ZAGREB, Sept 30 (Hina) - This week the Croatian government will
request the Constitutional Court to assess whether an indictment
from the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal against General Janko
Bobetko complies with the Constitution, sources at the government
announced on Monday. #L#
It remains unclear when exactly and who will submit the request, the
government or the president of its council for cooperation with the
UN tribunal, Goran Granic.
The government has already stated that some parts of the Bobetko
indictment are unacceptable, particularly those referring to the
character of 1993's Medak Pocket operation, which the 83-year-old
retired general is charged with.
The government maintains the operation was legal, legitimate, and
an anti-terrorist one, and not one of ethnic cleansing, i.e.
conceived to expel civilians on political, racial and religious
grounds, as stated in the indictment.
The government has also stated that the Medak Pocket operation did
not constitute an armed conflict between Croatian armed forces and
Croatian Serbs, but that rebel Serbs from occupied areas carried
out terrorist attacks on Gospic and the surrounding area.
In conclusions adopted after last week's debate on the Bobetko
indictment, the Croatian parliament among else states that the
Constitutional Court will assess whether the indictment is in line
with the Constitution in urgent procedure.
Sources say this is only an appeal on parliament's part, that no
urgency is being ordered, and that the Constitutional Court will do
its part of the job as stipulated by procedure.
Sources also claim that by week's end the government will prepare
another document for the Hague tribunal in relation to the request
for an interlocutory appeal against a warrant for Bobetko's arrest
and surrender.
The government's further steps will depend on the course of events,
the Constitutional Court assessment, and the UN tribunal's
procedure, the sources at the government said.
(hina) ha sb