$ ZAGREB, 18 April (Hina) - At today's session of the House of Representatives, the heads of Croatian parliamentary benches spoke about the final bill on cooperation with The Hague War Crimes Tribunal.
COURT
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ZAGREB, 18 April (Hina) - At today's session of the House of
Representatives, the heads of Croatian parliamentary benches spoke
about the final bill on cooperation with The Hague War Crimes
Tribunal. #L#
Vladimir Seks of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said that
HDZ representatives would vote for the bill because it was in
Croatia's national and state interest. In Croatia's defensive war
which was caused by the Serbian aggression and rebellion of
Croatian Serbs, not a single segment of authority had ever issued
orders, planned, instigated or approved of the violation of the
Geneva conventions and international humanitarian law, Seks said.
Should there be any attempt to instrumantalize the Hague Court or
should the Court act against its Statute and try to destabilize
Croatia through any of individual cases, the Croatian Parliament
would have the right to reconsider the act and decide whether it
should be changed or remain valid.
Vladimir Gotovac of the Croatian Social-Liberal Party (HSLS)
said that HSLS had always been on the side of Croatia's state
interests. Since the HSLS considered the bill to be in Croatia's
interest, the HSLS would vote for it, Gotovac said.
Ivica Racan of the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) said that SDP
representatives would give an affirmative answer to the bill. The
credibility of the Hague Court was, to say the least, worrying,
Racan said, adding that Croatia was, regretfully, being exposed to
continual attempts to level the guilt among the parties in the
region.
Lika Trconic of the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) said that
the HSS had always cared for vital and most important interests of
the Croatian state and people. It would therefore accept the bill,
he said. Protection mechanisms should be built into the bill, he
said, adding that the most important one was that Croatian citizens
sentenced by the Court be allowed to serve their sentences in
Croatia.
The Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) is the only party which
announced that it would not vote for the bill. HSP representative
Ante Djapic said that this kind of pressure of the international
community against Croatia was intolerable as well as the leveling
of guilt between Croatia and Serbia. 'If The Hague had good
intentions, it would condemn the regime in Belgrade. Since it has
not done it, we hold that the bill is a form of political pressure
against Croatia', Djapic said.
The adoption of the bill put Croatia among civilized countries
and a failure to adopt it would lead to deep social divisions which
would be worse than isolation from European institutions, Damir
Kajin of the Istrian Democratic Union (IDS) said, adding the IDS
would support the bill.
Later during the session, the MPs also expressed support for
the bill, which will be put to a vote tomorrow at 3 pm.
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