ZAGREB, Oct 4 (Hina) - One cannot say that this Government is prosecuting Croats and defending Serbs. The incumbent authorities have sent nobody to The Hague, Croatian Premier Ivica Racan said, answering a question of TV audience. It
is not acceptable that war crimes perpetrators in Croatia, and this is about Serbs who are Croatian citizens, are living freely in the country, Premier Racan said answering another question, while he was giving an interview to the Croatian Television news programme "Dnevnik Plus". Considering the fact that war crime has no statute of limitations, no amnesty can be applied in such case; those who committed war crimes will answer for it. Croatia is a law-based state and the guilt of anybody for war crimes should be proved in (legal) process, Premier added. This Government has extradited nobody to The Hague (the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugosla
ZAGREB, Oct 4 (Hina) - One cannot say that this Government is
prosecuting Croats and defending Serbs. The incumbent authorities
have sent nobody to The Hague, Croatian Premier Ivica Racan said,
answering a question of TV audience.
It is not acceptable that war crimes perpetrators in Croatia, and
this is about Serbs who are Croatian citizens, are living freely in
the country, Premier Racan said answering another question, while
he was giving an interview to the Croatian Television news
programme "Dnevnik Plus".
Considering the fact that war crime has no statute of limitations,
no amnesty can be applied in such case; those who committed war
crimes will answer for it. Croatia is a law-based state and the
guilt of anybody for war crimes should be proved in (legal) process,
Premier added.
This Government has extradited nobody to The Hague (the
International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia or ICTY). A
few war crimes suspects are undergoing the investigative procedure
and it is up to the judiciary to deal with it, he said reiterating
that it could not be said that these authorities prosecuting Croats
and defending Serbs.
Responding to a spectator's remark that the question of
accountability for crimes should in a linear manner be solved
(thinking of all three peoples: Serbs, Moslems and Croats) so that
Croats could realise that they were not endangered, Premier said
the data on processed war crimes suspects had already been
published. According to the data, the largest number referred to
those who committed war crimes against Croatian nationals, during
the aggression against Croatia, and those perpetrators were mainly
Croatian citizens who were non-Croats, Racan added.
He recalled that some of them were serving sentences but some of
them, although processed, were not available to Croatian
authorities. In this context Racan expressed hope that with
possible normalisation of the situation in Croatia's (eastern)
neighbourhood those indictees and convicts would be handed over to
Croatia.
Commenting on a spectator's statement that during the Croatian
Homeland War, Croats committed crime in self-defence, Premier
responded it was on courts to establish so. In that war, during our
joint struggle against the greater Serbian aggression, fortunately
a small number of such crimes was committed and fortunately there
are just a few who can be suspected of committing them. Who they are
- it is not the Government's or politics' job to find out, but
judicial organs should establish it, Premier said.
Racan concluded his TV appearance with an appeal for dialogue. For
the future of Croatia it is important that the principle of
responsibility is respected, he added.
(hina) ms