ZAGREB, Feb 15 (Hina) - The parliament's House of Representatives on Thursday completed a two-day debate on draft conclusions on the current political situation and 'the Mirko Norac case', which were moved yesterday by the
parliamentary benches of the ruling coalition's six parties. Since MPs failed to reach an agreement on the draft and due to lack of quorum, a vote on the draft will take place tomorrow. Mirko Norac is a retired general suspected of war crimes committed against civilians in Gospic in 1991. His whereabouts are unknown. In the course of today's individual debates on the current political situation, the presidents of party benches unsuccessfully tried to agree on joint conclusions. As Anto Djapic of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) pointed out, the cause was opposite conclusions. The party benches of the ruling coalition, Primorje-Gorski Kotar Party/Slavonia Baranja Croatian Party (PGS/SBHS
ZAGREB, Feb 15 (Hina) - The parliament's House of Representatives
on Thursday completed a two-day debate on draft conclusions on the
current political situation and 'the Mirko Norac case', which were
moved yesterday by the parliamentary benches of the ruling
coalition's six parties.
Since MPs failed to reach an agreement on the draft and due to lack
of quorum, a vote on the draft will take place tomorrow.
Mirko Norac is a retired general suspected of war crimes committed
against civilians in Gospic in 1991. His whereabouts are unknown.
In the course of today's individual debates on the current
political situation, the presidents of party benches
unsuccessfully tried to agree on joint conclusions. As Anto Djapic
of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) pointed out, the cause was
opposite conclusions.
The party benches of the ruling coalition, Primorje-Gorski Kotar
Party/Slavonia Baranja Croatian Party (PGS/SBHS) and national
minorities urged respect for the provisions of the Declaration on
the Homeland Defence War, adopted by parliament last autumn. The
document includes the provision that the Croatian judiciary is
obligated to process all possible cases of individual war crimes,
applying the principles of individual responsibility and
liability.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) also supported the
Declaration, but asked that the government prepare amendments to
the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the international war
crimes tribunal which, according to the party, has become over-
politicised.
The HDZ also requested amnesty for Croatian defence soldiers to
defuse social tensions, adding the soldiers cannot have less
favourable treatment that participants in the anti-fascist WW2
war.
The Croatian Party of Rights/Croatian Christian Democratic Union
(HSP/HKDU) party bench requested a special law to guarantee a
lasting protection from and cessation of criminal prosecution for
all defence soldiers.
The Democratic Centre (DC) party bench demanded the respect of all
provisions of the early 1990's defence war declaration. They also
requested all citizens should have the right to public gathering
and peaceful protests, but all acts compromising the law or the
functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial authority
should be prevented.
HDZ's Ivic Pasalic suggested the Justice Ministry should initiate
amnesty proceedings for Norac.
Croatia is threatened by a major rift between its southern and
northern parts, which is not only of a political but also of a
psychological and economic nature, HDZ's Nikica Valentic said
during individual debates. Valentic believes the current situation
could have been prevented had the Rijeka County Court not adopted
the ruling that Norac be taken into custody.
Zdravko Tomac of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) stressed the
judiciary had to be free of any pressures, but one had to find a
solution to the new situation due to a sense of injustice among the
people. That solution should be in line with the government's stand
that war crimes must be processed before Croatian courts and that it
will not allow the victim and the aggressor to be equalised, he
said.
HSP's Djapic believes the Croatian army officers who are suspected
of war crimes should be tried by military courts, which, he says,
will alleviate the public pressure.
Vesna Pusic of the Croatian People's Party (HNS) believes that
"attempts are being made to impose aggression and vulgarity as a
different political opinion." "Croatia must not yield to threats if
it wants to be a modern and civilised country," she said.
Some MPs believed the cause of the discontent of part of the
population was that war crimes committed on Croatia's territory
were not being processed in chronological order.
Earlier in the day, the session was discontinued due to a physical
clash between HDZ's Ljubo Cesic Rojs and Dino Debeljuh of the
Istrian Democratic Assembly.
The clash was the result of Debeljuh's quoting during the session
from Glas Istre daily that "Rojs threatened to have Norac killed."
Rojs was also reprimanded for insulting national minorities.
(hina) rml lml