COUNCIL OF EUROPE APPLAUDS CROATIAN GOVERNMENT'S DECISION

STRASBOURG/ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Monday praised Zagreb for its decision to continue cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). "I want to give credit to the Croatian Government for its continued co-operation with the Hague Tribunal. The most recent decisions concerning the transfer of the Croatian nationals testify to the strength of its commitment to justice, the rule of law and respect for its international obligations," read a declaration which Lord Russell-Johnston made on Monday regarding the latest decision of the Ivica Racan cabinet about the ICTY's request. "I should also like to clarify, for the benefit of those in Croatia who disagree with the government policy, that, if there is no collective guilt, there is no collective innocence either, for crimes committed during the recent wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The Hague Tribunal was set up to prosecute and punish individuals who committed crimes, and not to establish who, among the warring parties, was responsible for the outbreak of the conflict. This will be done by historians, and will in no way depend on the macabre politicized arithmetic of individual indictments," his statement read. (hina) ms