PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REFUSES HDZ'S MOTION FOR CHANGES TO LAW ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

ZAGREB, July 18 (Hina) - The Croatian parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, Rule Book and Political System has refused a proposal by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) for changes to the Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), confirming a Croatian parliament's conclusion binding the government to consider the possibility of changing the law in line with the ICTY Statute. Ivica Pasalic of the HDZ on Wednesday submitted a new proposal under which domestic courts would be able to refuse extradition if they establish on the basis of ICTY reports that the basis for indictment and extradition request is not acceptable. The Committee's chairman, Mato Arlovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), advised that the HDZ withdraw the proposal exclusively for legal reasons. If the proposal is adopted, it would mean that domestic courts would be authorised to assess an indictment before the start of the trial, which is not allowed under Croatian laws either, since an indictment can be contested only before the court, he said. Changes like these cannot be included in urgent procedure because they need careful examination so as to avoid worsening the indictee's position instead of improving it and jeopardising cooperation with the Hague tribunal, Arlovic said. Pasalic nevertheless insisted on the changes because, he said, history will be written according to the Hague indictments. (hina) rml