ICTY EXPECTS CROATIA TO KEEP FOLLOWING ANNOUNCED PATH OF COOPERATION

THE HAGUE, Mar 8 (Hina) - The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) expects Croatia's new authorities to cooperate in line with the obligations that have been taken over, spokesmen for the ICTY and Prosecution Jim Landale and Paul Risley respectively told reporters on Wednesday. "They are obliged to carry on with their cooperation with the Trial Chamber and Tribunal and that's what we are hopeful they will continue to do in the future," Landale said while answering questions on reactions in Croatia to the sentence the ICTY imposed on Tihomir Blaskic and the newly-discovered documents on the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Landale reminded that the ICTY President on Tuesday talked with Croatian Ambassador Jaksa Muljacic, who informed him about the reactions of the Croatian Government to the Blaskic sentence. Landale said ICTY President Claude Jorda noted those reactions, however, abiding by the policy of non-commenting on verdicts once they were pronounced, he said that he understood that some people in Zagreb found it hard to accept the verdict. The spokesman said Jorda had reminded Muljacic that cooperation with the Tribunal had to continue and that it must not be tied to decisions and verdicts reached by the independent Trial Chamber. Paul Risley, spokesman for the Prosecution, reminded that there were valid binding court orders for Croatia to hand over documents requested by the Prosecution. "Any documents that have recently been discovered must be reviewed with fulfilling those orders in mind by the government," Risley said. Risley said the documents in question must be handed over not only to the defence team but also to the Tribunal and Prosecution. The defence attorneys are certainly aware of this and will submit those documents, he added. (hina) jn rml