PROSECUTION WILL NOT CONCEDE ITS JURISDICTION - BLEWITT

THE HAGUE, Sept 17 (Hina) - The Prosecution of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will not concede its jurisdiction in the investigation of the "Storm" and "Flash" Croatian military and police operations in 1995, and the only way to resolve the dispute between Zagreb and The Hague is for Croatia to fulfil the requests of the chief prosecutor and hand over documents, deputy chief prosecutor Graham Blewitt, said in The Hague Friday. "The current proposal being put to the Tribunal by Croatian authorities is that there be some form of independent opinion as to the Tribunal's jurisdiction over Flash and Storm and for us that is such a fundamental issue that we just cannot compromise on that point," Blewitt told a news conference in The Hague after a meeting between chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte and Croatian Justice Minister Zvonimir Separovic. Over the past several weeks, Croatia has proposed an independent opinion of the International Court of Justice or a decision of the ICTY Trial Chamber about the jurisdiction of the prosecution over the investigation, announcing it would accept any decision made. The ICTY Prosecution Office holds the Statute gives the Prosecutor clear jurisdiction over investigations, Blewitt said. "We are not prepared to concede our jurisdiction or authority," Blewitt said. He explained the prosecution held that the Croatian suggestion would significantly restrict the independence of the body, which is something that is "not open for negotiations". The Prosecution Office sees no sense in requesting a decision of the ICTY Trial Chamber or an independent opinion of the ICJ, because "the Prosecutor would not be bound by any decision", Blewitt said. Besides, he added, the Prosecution is concerned that the opening of the gate to the possibility of questioning the authority of the Tribunal could be a bad precedent hindering the work of the Prosecution due to the length of proceedings questioning its authority. "So the meeting with Croatian authorities finished yesterday with no compromise worked out," Blewitt said, describing them as "frank and pleasant". Asked about the possibility that the authority issue be resolved by the UN Security Council, Blewitt said he did not believe the Council could do that because it would mean interference of a political body into the independent work of the Tribunal. "The only way forward is for Croatia to cooperate," he said, announcing that the Prosecution was prepared for a concession if the Croatian authorities surrenders the requested documents. And that is that in further proceedings, this would not be held as direct recognition of the Tribunal's jurisdiction in a possible trial Croatia would enter to plea the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. Blewitt said the Croatian side had given guarantees that Mladen Naletilic Tuta, indicted by the ICTY, would be extradited to the Tribunal following appeal proceedings in Croatia. "We do not expect any substantial delays in Tuta's surrender to the Tribunal," he said. Blewitt said Carla del Ponte had accepted Separovic's invitation to visit Zagreb, which she could do later this year. (hina) lml