ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitution reads that a person is innocent until proven guilty and statements which do not take this into account are contrary to constitutional regulations, Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic
said during question time at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Asked by Nevio Setic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) if Premier Ivica Racan exerted pressure on the judicial authority and acted contrary to the Constitution when he claimed after the Gospic arrests that war and common criminals had been arrested, Ivanisevic said words in public statements are often not carefully chosen and advised government and other officials to exercise more caution when making public statements. Asked where the so-called 'Ahmici group' would be tried and whether The Hague war crimes tribunal had requested that the suspects be handed over, Ivanisevic said the tribu
ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitution reads that a
person is innocent until proven guilty and statements which do not
take this into account are contrary to constitutional regulations,
Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic said during question time at
the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Asked by Nevio Setic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) if
Premier Ivica Racan exerted pressure on the judicial authority and
acted contrary to the Constitution when he claimed after the Gospic
arrests that war and common criminals had been arrested, Ivanisevic
said words in public statements are often not carefully chosen and
advised government and other officials to exercise more caution
when making public statements.
Asked where the so-called 'Ahmici group' would be tried and whether
The Hague war crimes tribunal had requested that the suspects be
handed over, Ivanisevic said the tribunal had not requested their
hand-over so far. However, there is a possibility for such a request
and in that case Croatia is obliged to hand them over, he added.
Asked about Croatia's genocide suit against Yugoslavia and how much
it cost, Ivanisevic said the suit that had been filed a year ago was
incomplete and Croatia was given an extended deadline to submit an
amended suit until March 15 2001. The original suit, drawn up by a
foreign law firm, cost about five million dollars, whereas the
amended version, which is being drawn up by domestic and foreign
experts, will cost about US$700,000, Ivanisevic said.
(hina) rml