PRESIDENT MESIC: GENERAL BOBETKO MUST APPEAR BEFORE TRIBUNAL

ZAGREB, Oct 15 (Hina) - General Janko Bobetko must appear before the international war crimes tribunal, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Tuesday, explaining that the Croatian general has been indicted, which does not mean he is guilty. Only the tribunal can rule whether he is guilty or not, he said. #L# Mesic spoke about the situation in Croatia in connection with the Hague-based tribunal's indictment against the retired general during a lecture at Zagreb's Faculty of Political Sciences on the subject "Croatia in Today's World" on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the faculty. Mesic said he would not accept "the non-existence of will to systematically begin shedding light on crimes committed on our side and to have the perpetrators punished". Croatia is now at a turning point, he stressed. The indictment against General Bobetko, who is "charged with superior responsibility for crimes which did happen and were documented", arrived on the basis of Croatia's constitutional law on cooperation with the Hague tribunal, Mesic said. He stressed he insisted on individualising responsibility to avoid having the entire Croatian people answer for the crimes. "General Bobetko has been indicted. This does not mean he is guilty. The tribunal, and only the tribunal establishes whether he is guilty or not!" Mesic said, adding that this was why Bobetko should answer before the tribunal. "Croatia must act on the Hague tribunal's order, but Croatia can and must exploit all legal means provided by the tribunal's procedure to protect General Bobetko," Mesic said. He said that the path which Croatia had taken, however, meant conflict with the tribunal, since the international community viewed it as the avoiding of assumed obligations of cooperation. "This is harmful to Croatia, and is of no use to General Bobetko either," Mesic said. "Neither the international community nor the tribunal are contesting the legitimacy of the Homeland War. The Homeland War's dignity was jeopardised by those who instigated and committed war crimes, and is today jeopardised by those who are trying to prevent trials against war criminals, those who, to say the least, tolerated them and undoubtedly knew about them," the president said. Croatia's policy is "not a policy of carrying out dictates, but is and must be a policy of implementing assumed obligations, the establishment of the rule-of-law, the respect of human rights, non- reconciling with crimes, and full equality for all citizens," Mesic said. Commenting at the beginning of his speech about Croatia's international position before elections in 2000, the President said that Croatia was in a "self-imposed semi-isolation which was accompanied by certain silent sanctions". Responsible for such a situation was the former government which presented Croatia to the world "as an unreliable partner which assumes obligations, but does not fulfil them," Mesic said. "The official Croatia showed willingness not only to tolerate, but also to negate, that is, keep silent about and hide crimes, their instigators and perpetrators," he said. The new government elected in 2000 has achieved successes on the international scene, but "more through the fact of its existence than its merits," he stressed. Mesic said some of the successes Croatia had achieved since the elections were the entry into the World Trade Organisation, the drawing closer to NATO and the signing of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU. The incumbent government has set two basic goals: entry into the EU and NATO, he said, adding that regional cooperation was crucial for membership in these two organisations. "Our chief interest is to become a part of the democratic world, avoid isolation, use the benefits which membership in Euro- Atlantic associations can provide for us, and bring the process of transition to an end as painlessly as possible," the president said. Croatia is being hindered in achieving these goals by forces which formerly, "in the semi-isolated Croatia", and even today, are "prepared to put their narrow interests ahead of those of the state and the majority of the Croatian people," said Mesic. "The public, even some sections of the government, do not understand that becoming a member of the world cannot be achieved by either verbally escaping the region or by denying our neighbours, which need not always be to our liking but are a part of the reality in which we live," Mesic said. "Regional cooperation has nothing to do with the revival of any form of Yugoslavia," the president said, adding that this was "stupidity" used to "intimidate the uninformed so they may be manipulated". (hina) lml sb