SABOR RESUMES DEBATE ON CHANGES TO LAW ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

ZAGREB, July 19 (Hina) - Croatia must not allow the Hague war crimes tribunal to use double standards, said Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) deputies, who were the only ones to participate in Thursday's individual debates on draft changes to the Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Vladimir Seks repeated that the current Hague indictments against two Croatian generals exceeded the powers of the Hague tribunal as defined by its statute. He warned that some European countries do not let their soldiers testify before the Hague tribunal and that Croatia should fight against double criteria. The HDZ is not insisting that changes to the Constitutional Law be made exclusively on the basis of the HDZ draft, but it is necessary for Croatian legal experts to pool knowledge and find the best solution for this situation, said HDZ's Ljerka Mintas Hodak. Individual debates will be continued after 3 p.m. In previous debates among parliamentary benches, representatives of the ruling coalition agreed that it was necessary to make changes to the Constitutional Law, however, not unilaterally but in cooperation with international organisations. (hina) rml