CROATIAN JUDGES VISIT UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Hina) - Investigative judges of the Zagreb County Court, Zdenko Konjic and Zeljko Pajalic, as well as Deputy County Attorney Janko Grlic and associates met representatives of the American justice system in Washington on Monday. The talks tackled legal proceedings against Dinko and Nada Sakic, former commanders of concentration camps in the Independent state of Croatia (NDH 1941-1945). The Croatian delegation also held talks with State Department's Ambassador David Scheffer, in charge of war crimes issues, and Eli Rosenbaum, director of the Justice Department's special investigations unit. The talks focused on proceedings in war crimes cases, particularly the gathering of evidence, establishing facts, determining the authenticity of documents and other procedural details. The Croatian representatives also met Peter Black, the chief historian of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Amy Smidt, an archivist at the USA National Archives and the main analyst for the forensic investigation of documents, Gide Epstein. The American experts offered assistance in case the authenticity of documents concerning the cases against Dinko and Nada Sakic need confirmation. Witnesses and possible material evidence for these two separate cases can be collected in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Germany and Italy. US experts confirmed their readiness to interview any other witnesses possibly residing in the United States. The need for further cooperation was stressed on both sides. (Hina) lml