CRO PARLIAMENT ON AMENDMENTS TO LAW ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

ZAGREB, July 19 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament on Thursday morning continued its 15th extraordinary session with a discussion on the Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) motion on amendments to a law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). According to the amendments, Croatian courts would be able to assess whether the Hague indictments had been adjusted to the Croatian Constitution and the ICTY Statute. 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. On behalf of the HDZ, Ivic Pasalic stressed the HDZ did not oppose cooperation with the Hague tribunal, adding, however, it was necessary to protect Croatian Homeland War soldiers from unacceptable and unfair political indictments. Pasalic stressed Croatia could find an acceptable solution, namely through activities and amendments to the law on cooperation with the ICTY. Competent parliamentary committees on Wednesday refused an HDZ proposal for changes to the Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the Hague tribunal, confirming a Croatian parliament's conclusion binding the government to consider the possibility of changing the law in line with the ICTY Statute. The HDZ was advised to 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. MPs are expected to voice their opinion on the proposed amendments. (hina) it