HAGUE TRIBUNAL ACCUSED OF INTERPRETING COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY TOO WIDELY

ZAGREB/ZADAR, Jan 11 (Hina) - The Zadar County branch of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), one of the six ruling coalition partners, on Thursday voiced discontent with the wide interpretation of line-of-command liability in the practice of the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal. Such interpretation could turn the Hague tribunal into a "political instrument of breaking the backbone of the Croatian people," local HSLS officials asserted. They advocated the stance that "not one Croatian general or citizen should be extradirted to The Hague on the principle of a too protracted interpretation of commant responsibility". The party officials expressed support to the party's president Drazen Budisa's similar views, and said they expected agreement from some of their coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party and the Croatian Peasants' Party. The Zadar HSLS officials said the tribunal's practice was leading to marking Croatia a "criminal state". A newly-established association, the Croatian Legal Committee, comprising a dozen lawyers, also voiced their disagreement with Croatia's "unconditional" cooperation with the Hague tribunal, which is, they said, "contraty to the interests of the Croatian people and state sovereignty". A Committee member, former justice minister Zvonimir Separovic, told a news conference Croatia, as a sovereign country, should not extradite its citizens until domestic courts do not establish liability and founded suspicion that crimes were committed. This means the tribunal should first thoroughly analyse the degree of guilt and all facts regarding the crimes, and submit evidence, which the Croatian judiciary may dismiss, he stressed. The Committee suggested the Parliament should initiate a discussion on the foundedness and constitutionality of the Constitutional Law on Cooepration with the Hague tribunal, and to carry out a referendum on the important modalities of the cooperation. (hina) lml sb