ZAGREB, Dec 30 (Hina) - Zagreb's County Court has quashed the Municipal Court verdict according to which the government was to hand over to the defence counsel of ICTY indictee General Ante Gotovina the documents it had produced to
the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY). The case has been returned to the Municipal Court for deliberation.
ZAGREB, Dec 30 (Hina) - Zagreb's County Court has quashed the
Municipal Court verdict according to which the government was to
hand over to the defence counsel of ICTY indictee General Ante
Gotovina the documents it had produced to the Hague-based UN war
crimes tribunal (ICTY). The case has been returned to the Municipal
Court for deliberation. #L#
The three-member panel of judges at the County Court accepted a
government's appeal against the Municipal Court's verdict dating
from June.
According to that interlocutory verdict, the government allegedly
committed an unlawful act when it failed to provide the defence team
with documents about Gotovina's participation in the "Storm"
liberation operation, at their request.
The County Court ruled the verdict as illegitimate and returned it
back.
The higher-instance court concluded that the government could not
have adequately responded to Gotovina's lawyers' request, since
they had not "identified every document" which they sought from the
government.
Alongside the documentation submitted to the tribunal regarding
the war crimes indictment against Gotovina, and a total of 77
documents made their way to The Hague from various sources, the
attorneys also requested an undetermined number of military
orders, transcripts, video and audio tapes, reports and diaries
about Croatian Army actions in which Gotovina had taken part. Most
of the requested documents pertained to the 1995 "Storm"
operation.
The first hearing against the government was held at the beginning
of October last year, and the verdict was passed in mid-June, after
four hearings.
The County Court quashed the verdict in October and submitted the
decision to the Municipal Court in late November, but only recently
it informed the parties in the dispute.
In the appeal, the government disputed the legitimacy of attorneys
to represent Gotovina, since this Croatian general, who is still on
the run, had not received the indictment, nor had he been handed
over to the tribunal.
The Zagreb-based County Court did not comment on these statements.
(hina) lml sb