ZAGREB, Oct 13 (Hina) - An international warrant for the arrest the UN war crimes tribunal's indictee, Croatian General Janko Bobetko, was published on the official web site of Interpol.
ZAGREB, Oct 13 (Hina) - An international warrant for the arrest the
UN war crimes tribunal's indictee, Croatian General Janko Bobetko,
was published on the official web site of Interpol. #L#
Interpol released the arrest warrant at the request of the Hague-
based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY), which indicted this retired Croatian general for crimes
against humanity, the grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and
the violations of the laws or customs of war.
The released warrant consists of Bobetko's black-and-white
photograph, and the information about the date and the place of his
birth. It is also cited that the indictee is 83 years old, and that
he speaks the "Serbo Croat" language. The warrant also says that the
"person may be dangerous".
A spokeswoman for the Croatian Interior Ministry said on Saturday
evening that this was an usual procedure in line of which the Hague-
based tribunal had forwarded the warrant for Bobetko's arrest and
his indictment and at the same time ordered Interpol to announce and
an international warrant for arrest. In this context, spokeswoman
Zinka Bardic recalled that the ICTY and Interpol had concluded a
direct agreement on cooperation.
Asked about the procedure which should be conducted following the
announcement of Interpol's arrest warrant in the case of Bobetko,
Bardic answered that all the acts would be taken in compliance with
the Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the ICTY, which defines
the government as the responsible factor for the cooperation. She
reminded that the government had embarked on a legal dispute with
the tribunal and that all legal means had not yet been used.
Zoran Nekic, the head of the Interior Ministry's department for
international police cooperation which includes the Zagreb-based
Interpol branch office, told Hina on Saturday evening that the
ministry had been notified Interpol's warrant for Bobetko's arrest
at the end of the last week. Nekic explained that the arrest warrant
had first been published on the protected web site of Interpol,
which is available only to police of Interpol member-states, and
the warrant was subsequently released on the "public" web site.
He added that Interpol's Zagreb office had acted in line with the
regular procedure and informed the Justice Ministry of the arrest
warrant.
Under the usual procedure, arrest warrants are forwarded to the
Justice Ministry, which then sends them to the competent court, and
only after an investigating judge issues a warrant, the police can
apprehend the wanted person, Nekic explained.
Bobetko's lawyer, Bosiljko Misetic, said last night that he had
received no official information about the arrest warrant on
Interpol's site. He also recalled that the said constitutional law
defined the government as the responsible body for the further
moves on the Croatian territory. The government has already taken
certain legal moves in accordance with the tribunal's statute and
rules, Misetic said.
The Croatian government's public relations office described the
announcement of Bobetko's arrest warrant on Interpol's web site as
a part of the usual procedure after the Hague-based tribunal issued
the Bobetko indictment.
(hina) ms