CROATIAN PARLIAMENT ADJOURNS SESSION ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

ZAGREB, July 17 (Hina) - Shortly after midnight Tuesday, the Croatian parliament adjourned a 12-hour long session on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The parliament will continue the 14th extraordinary session at 11AM Tuesday when MPs should vote on a draft conclusion on cooperation with the ICTY. The draft decision should be made by an interparty working group. On behalf of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentary bench Ivo Sanader said should the working group fail to draft the conclusion, the HDZ would stick to its draft conclusion in line with which the parliament should be obliged to amend a constitutional law on cooperation with the ICTY. The HDZ suggested that Croatian courts be enabled to asses the constitutionality of the Hague indictments. Should the courts establish that a Hague indictment contains unacceptable political assessments, Croatia could, according to the HDZ suggestion, refuse to hand over its citizens on the basis of such an indictment. After the discussion on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, the Croatian parliament should discuss the holding of a referendum, based on 400,000 signatures collected by the headquarters for the defence of the dignity of the Homeland Defence War. (hina) it