THE HAGUE, Sept 16 (Hina) - Croatian Justice Minister Zvonimir Separovic on Thursday ended his visit to The Hague with a meeting with Carla Del Ponte, the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY). "The talks were very cordial and constructive. We exchanged opinions on all significant issues. We expressed great understanding for and closeness in points of view," Separovic told the press after the talks. "We have good reason to believe that Croatia's current position in The Hague is good, that we are quite far from the ominous announcements, sanctions or whatever troubles some had hoped for," Separovic said. He announced Del Ponte would visit Zagreb. "After all the meetings, we can be more than satisfied (...) We conveyed our messages and they were well received," Croatia's justice minister said. After meeting ICTY president Gabrielle Kirk McDonald
THE HAGUE, Sept 16 (Hina) - Croatian Justice Minister Zvonimir
Separovic on Thursday ended his visit to The Hague with a meeting
with Carla Del Ponte, the new chief prosecutor of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
"The talks were very cordial and constructive. We exchanged
opinions on all significant issues. We expressed great
understanding for and closeness in points of view," Separovic told
the press after the talks.
"We have good reason to believe that Croatia's current position in
The Hague is good, that we are quite far from the ominous
announcements, sanctions or whatever troubles some had hoped for,"
Separovic said.
He announced Del Ponte would visit Zagreb.
"After all the meetings, we can be more than satisfied (...) We
conveyed our messages and they were well received," Croatia's
justice minister said.
After meeting ICTY president Gabrielle Kirk McDonald on Wednesday,
Separovic said it had been agreed that the disputes which recently
strained the Zagreb-The Hague relations should be resolved on a
legal and not a political level.
McDonald in late August reported Croatia to the United Nations
Security Council for non-cooperation in investigations into
"Flash" and "Storm", the 1995 military and police operations with
which Croatia liberated parts of its territory formerly occupied by
Serbs, and for the non-extradition of war crimes suspect Mladen
Naletilic Tuta.
Separovic announced a letter might be forwarded to the Security
Council as part of the settlement of contentious issues.
Upon leaving The Hague, the justice minister strongly criticised
the coverage of his visit to the ICTY and the International Court of
Justice.
"Your reporting, gentlemen of the press, is scandalous. You only
sought for errors in our proceedings, your expectations of what
would happen here were malicious, and what did happen were the most
important things that could have happened," the minister said.
"We have been received here by all responsible parties, they have
heard us out and now think as they have thought before, but now they
know our positions," Separovic concluded.
(hina) ha