HDZ DEMANDS EXTRADITION DECISION ANNULLED, URGENT PARL. SESSION

ZAGREB, July 27 (Hina) - Following the publishing of indictments issued by the international war crimes tribunal against two Croatian generals, the Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ) today requested the government immediately rescind its decision on the extradition of generals Rahim Ademi and Ante Gotovina. The HDZ also demands an urgent parliament session to amend the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the Hague-based tribunal, and to issue a referendum on the position of Croatian veterans. Recalling that the demands on amending the Constitutional Law and the referendum, previously set by the HDZ, were dismissed by the government and the parliament majority, the HDZ Presidency said that now that the content of the indictments has been published, the concerned reactions by representatives of ruling parties look tragicomic and hypocritical. The party asserted the indictments were in grieve violation of the Resolution 827 of the UN Security Council, the Statute and Regulations of the Hague-based tribunal, as well as the Croatian Constitution and Constitutional Law. The content of the indictments falsify the truth about the Homeland Defence War and in effect it is an indictment against the Croatian State itself, against the liberation Croatian army, only because it liberated through its military operations Storm and Flash the until then occupied and ethnically completely cleansed areas, the HDZ stressed in its statement. (hina) lml