FRY. CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ANNULS DECREE ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

BELGRADE, June 28 (Hina) - The Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (ICTY) today temporarily stopped the application of the government decree on cooperation with the Hague- based international war crimes tribunal. The date for extraditing former president Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague has thus been moved forward yet again. The application has been postponed pursuant to the final decision of the Constitutional Court on whether the bylaw the government adopted last week is in accordance with the Constitution. The decree was passed so the FRY could establish full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as soon as possible, including the possibility of extradition of Yugoslav citizens. All four present Constitutional Court judges were unanimous in their decision. Two judges left the Court last year and their eats still have not been filled. One judge refused to sit in prior to the session. The four judges were appointed several years ago, during Milosevic's regime- Slobodan Milosevic's defence attorneys who were present at the Court session congratulated each other after the decision as read. One of them stated which was "the victory of law over violence". Toma Fila added "nothing can be done forcefully any more". Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic said the Constitutional Court "had earlier made decisions which are far from law and the Constitution". "We have international obligations and the decree has come into force. It is now up to the Serbian government to say what is to be done," Zivkovic said, announcing a government session for the early afternoon. (hina) lml sb