JORDA CALLS ON CROATIA'S GOVERNMENT TO COOPERATE WITH ICTY

OPATIJA, May 9 (Hina) - The president of The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Claude Jorda, on Tuesday called on Croatia's government to cooperate with the ICTY to ensure justice on the territory of the former Yugoslav federation and the holding of fair trials. We cannot guarantee fair trials unless we are given the entire material, all the evidence, both for the prosecution and for the defence, Jorda said in the northern Adriatic seaside resort of Opatija. We work for you, together we work for international justice, he told the final day of an international two-day symposium on ICTY's work which gathered about 200 legal experts from Croatia and abroad. Croatia's Interior Minister Sime Lucin attended today. Jorda said ICTY was established when threats and penalisation proved unsuccessful by an international community which was at a loss as to what to do. The tribunal has survived many difficulties and, among else, distanced itself from the notion that it is a political body, he added. Jorda said a new reform was underway to improve the tribunal's work, including the institution of investigating judge. ICTY's president said it was too early for the present to transfer hearings in some cases, for instance to Croatia. The effects would be positive, but the suggestion entails a series of unresolved security and logistic problems, he asserted. (hina) ha mm