THE HAGUE, April 16 (Hina) - The Hague-based International War Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) should soon decide on whether national and security reasons are justified which prevent the Republic of Croatia from obeying
the binding order of the Tribunal to produce documents in the Blaskic case. The legal representative of Croatia, U.S lawyer David Rivkin, said on Friday in The Hague that a decision on the matter could be expected in the coming weeks. On Thursday and Friday, on behalf of Croatia, Rivkin and an advisor at the Croatian Army headquarters, Major Stjepan Udiljak, expounded to the Trial Chamber, in charge of the trial of Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic, why the national security of Croatia prevented the compliance with the order of the Trial Chamber for the production of documents in this case. This was the second and last hearing. It was held behind the closed
THE HAGUE, April 16 (Hina) - The Hague-based International War
Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) should soon decide
on whether national and security reasons are justified which
prevent the Republic of Croatia from obeying the binding order of
the Tribunal to produce documents in the Blaskic case.
The legal representative of Croatia, U.S lawyer David Rivkin, said
on Friday in The Hague that a decision on the matter could be
expected in the coming weeks.
On Thursday and Friday, on behalf of Croatia, Rivkin and an advisor
at the Croatian Army headquarters, Major Stjepan Udiljak,
expounded to the Trial Chamber, in charge of the trial of Bosnian
Croat General Tihomir Blaskic, why the national security of Croatia
prevented the compliance with the order of the Trial Chamber for the
production of documents in this case.
This was the second and last hearing. It was held behind the closed
doors and neither the defence nor the prosecution could attend it.
The American lawyer described the hearing as very successful.
We managed to show to the Trial Chamber how much the Prosecutor's
Office was unfair in its assessment of Croatia's cooperation with
the Tribunal in many issues, he added.
The Trial Chamber now better understands how Croatia is cooperating
with the Tribunal and how much the national security cannot allow
Croatia to disclose all documents, requested by the Prosecution,
the American said.
In the beginning of 1997, the President of the ICTY, Gabrielle Kirk
McDonald, issued for Croatia and the then Defence Minister two
binding orders, called 'subponae duces tecum', under which they had
to produce documents. In addition, the Republic of Bosnia-
Herzegovina and the archives of the Herzeg-Bosnian defence
ministry were also ordered to turn over to the ICTY documentary
evidence relating to the Blaskic case.
The orders were dismissed in the procedure after Croatia appealed
the order. It was concluded that binding orders could be forwarded
only to individuals and neither to a sovereign state nor its
official.
Only requests, binding according to the Tribunal's statute, could
be forwarded to countries. It is up to trial chambers to rule
whether there are justified national and security reasons for not
producing the evidence, and to inform the UN Security Council,
which may take measures against a state, of the matter.
(hina) jn ms