PARLIAMENTARY IMMIGRATION COMMITTEE ON 'ZVONKO BUSIC CASE'

ZAGREB, Oct 11 (Hina) - The Croatian parliamentary Committee for Immigration on Friday unanimously decided to propose to the parliament to hold a debate on the transfer of Zvonko Busic from a U.S. prison to Croatia. #L# Busic has been in U.S. prisons for 26 years because he, along with a group of Croats in the United States, hijacked an airplane in 1976, to draw the international attention to an alleged difficult position of Croatians in Yugoslavia. Busic should be released from prison in September 2006, which is the longest period for his detention. The Zvonko Busic problem grew into a humanitarian problem, the committee's chairman, Milan Kovac said. He called on his colleagues to, as parliamentarians, try to influence "the good spirit of the American people to transfer Busic" to Croatia. Supporting his claim, the chairman said that Judge John R. Bartels, who convicted Busic, had recommended that Busic be released after ten years, stressing that he was neither a terrorist nor a criminal. His release, says Kovac, was also requested by the wife of the officer who died in the explosion of an explosive device planted by Busic and his associates at a New York Train station. "The Busic case" is no longer a legal, but a political problem, Croatian Foreign Ministry representative Nenad Prelog said. According to him, a series of talks and contacts regarding Busic's release or transfer had been conducted over the last two and a half years. Prelog said that even some laws were changed because of "the Busic case". Busic has, in the meantime, requested of the U.S. government to pass any decision regarding his transfer. The written response has not as yet arrived. U.S. authorities, however, said it wasn't the right time for the transfer, Prelog said. Committee members agreed to request of the U.S. ambassador to receive a committee delegation which would hand over a request for the U.S. Senate and Congress to do something about "the Busic case". (hina) it