UN HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR CONDEMNS ATTACK ON DUBROVNIK ATTORNEY

ZAGREB, Jan 4 (Hina) - UN's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Jiri Dienstbier on Thursday expressed his concern over an attack on Dubrovnik attorney Srdjo Jaksic and urged competent bodies of authority to urgently bring the perpetrators to justice. Dienstbier said he was shaken by the news about an armed attack on Srdjo Jaksic in Dubrovnik on December 30. Jaksic, a highly respected attorney, was shot and seriously wounded in the front yard of his house by unidentified perpetrators around 7 pm. The day after this violent act, Jaksic's wife and daughter were attacked in a Dubrovnik street as well, Dienstbier said. Stressing that Jaskic had worked on numerous cases of exceptional importance for the protection of human rights in Croatia, Dienstbier warned that the motive for the attack had still not been uncovered and added he was deeply worried about the possibility the attacks could be connected with his work on the protection of human rights. The high UN official expressed his dissatisfaction with the work of the police. Reports about the case which have been received so far show that the police did not act with due diligence, Dienstbier said, calling on Croatian authorities to thoroughly investigate the violent acts and bring those responsible for it to justice as well as protect Jaksic's family. (hina) rml