WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Hina) - Commenting on Sunday's statement of the U.S. special ambassador for the war crimes issues, Pierre Richard Prosper, Chicago lawyer Luka Misetic said Croatia, just as the United States, had the right to
protect its citizens from unfair indictments of the UN war crimes tribunal.
WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Hina) - Commenting on Sunday's statement of the
U.S. special ambassador for the war crimes issues, Pierre Richard
Prosper, Chicago lawyer Luka Misetic said Croatia, just as the
United States, had the right to protect its citizens from unfair
indictments of the UN war crimes tribunal. #L#
"Ambassador Prosper is aware that problems between Croatia and the
ICTY are not the result of the absence of Croatia's cooperation but
that they are the result of the politicking and poor performance of
the ICTY's prosecution," said Misetic, who is the attorney of
Croatian General Ante Gotovina, indicted by the Hague-based
tribunal.
Misetic recalled that earlier this year Ambassador Prosper told
U.S. Congress that the work of the International Criminal Tribunals
for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda
(ICTR) had from time to time been marked by the lack of
professionalism, bad management and abuse, and that the court
processes had been far away from the every-day lives of people and
victims.
"This is exactly what has happened in the cases of (Janko) Bobetko
and Gotovina," the lawyer asserted.
He said that in compliance with the law on cooperation with the ICTY
and ICTR, the United States protected its citizens and persons on
its territory from unprofessional indictments and abuse, and
Washington had already refuted an indictment issued by the ICTR.
"If Croatian courts assess that indictments against General
Bobetko or General Gotovina are not founded on law or facts,
Croatia, like the United States, has the right to turn them down and
refuse to extradite (indictees)," Misetic said.
(hina) ms