STATE JUDICIAL COUNCIL FINDS OLUJIC GUILTY OF DISCIPLINARY ACT

( Editorial: --> 6624 ) ZAGREB, Oct 7 (Hina) - The State Judicial Council's (DSV) Disciplinary Commission on Wednesday found Krunislav Olujic guilty of a disciplinary act, relieving him of his duties as Supreme Court President and judge. Olujic has the right to submit a protection request to the House of Counties within a period of 15 days from the announcement of the decision, the Commission said in a statement. According to the plaintiff, in this case the Government, between June 1995 and November 1996, while he was holding the office of Supreme Court President, Krunislav Olujic maintained contact and appeared in public with Branimir Culina and Samir Sabanovic, although he was aware that they were involved in a number of criminal acts. In this way, Olujic committed a grave disciplinary act compromising the reputation of the court and his judicial duty. In April this year the Constitutional Court accepted an appeal by the defence and annulled the DSV decision of January 1997, which relieved Olujic of his duties as Supreme Court President and judge. The disciplinary proceedings against Olujic were attended by monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Olujic and his attorneys were not present at today's announcement of the verdict, protesting against the way the procedure had been conducted. Prior to the announcement of the verdict, Olujic told reporters that the DSV had deliberately violated his rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Liberties. Olujic announced that he would try and defend his rights before the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg. (hina) rml 072320 MET oct 98