CROATIA HAS PAID US ATTORNEY RIVKIN US9,068,104 - JUSTICE MINISTER

ZAGREB, Mar 11 (Hina) - The Croatian Justice Ministry has obtained bills proving that in the period between June 11, 1997 and January 25, 2000, Croatia paid US attorney David Rivkin US$9,068,104 and 30 cent, Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic told reporters on Saturday. "Those bills refer to his services as a state agent representing Croatia before the International Court of Justice, where Croatia submitted a claim against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for genocide, and for his interventions as an observer in the Kordic- Cerkez case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)," Ivanisevic said. Asked who had signed such a contract with Rivkin, Ivanisevic said he still had not seen the contract. "The contract Croatia signed with Rivkin is at the Croatian Embassy in the United States, but we still have not seen it. Until I see it, I cannot say who is responsible for it," Ivanisevic said, adding Rivkin was invited to visit Croatia. The US attorney should visit Croatia at the end of next week to submit a report on his work and bills that have been paid, and to return documents Croatia had given him. Ivanisevic added that he knew about the existence of "other channels through which Rivkin was paid, such as the Defence Ministry and the community of Herceg-Bosna." Reporters were especially interested in documents related to the case of Tihomir Blaskic. Ivanisevic said he knew about the documents from the moment they were discovered at the Croatian Intelligence Service's (HIS) archive. According to Ivanisevic, those documents include "documents from the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) archive, some documents belonging to the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina which were seized during the war, and documents about some Serb units." The documents also include Blaskic's operative diary in which it is visible that he had ordered an investigation into the Ahmici crime. However, he was not satisfied with the first report and ordered another investigation, but he never received the second report, Ivanisevic said. The statement of ICTY Trial Chamber President Claude Jorda that "Blaskic did nothing is not true because the defence did not have those documents at their disposal." "It has been agreed that the documents be submitted to the defence and Tribunal but a procedure must be conducted in Croatia before that," the minister said. Speaking about Mladen Naletilic Tuta, Ivanisevic said he requested the ICTY to organise a hearing (the reading of the indictment and the defendant's plea) before an ICTY trial chamber in Zagreb and that Tuta remain in custody in Croatia until the beginning of the trial. Since the ICTY has a large number of cases, one expected that the request would be judged as rational because it would cost the Tribunal less and Tuta's health would not be put at risk, Ivanisevic said. However, the proposal was not accepted and we are now expecting a request for Naletilic's hand-over, Ivanisevic said, adding once the Tribunal reached the decision, he would have to annul the decision on the postponement of extradition proceedings and extradite Naletilic. Ivanisevic also said he believed "the events in Croatia after the announcement of Blaskic's sentence and some reactions have had a significant impact on the Tribunal's decision." Answering about Croatia's future cooperation with the ICTY, Ivanisevic said Croatia would continue paying the costs of the defence of general Blaskic. As regards the Kordic-Cerkez case, which Croatia co-finances and observes, Ivanisevic said this "still has to be discussed." As regards the ICJ, Ivanisevic said he would request that Rivkin be relieved of his duties as Croatia's state agent and suggest another agent. Croatia has sought an extension of the deadline for submitting its claim against Yugoslavia before the ICJ, and it has been granted an extension until September this year, Ivanisevic said. (hina) rml