LOWER HOUSE CONCLUDES DEBATE ON AMNESTY BILL

ZAGREB, Sept 20 (Hina) - "The General Amnesty bill is very clear - there is no amnesty for war crimes," said Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic, presenting the Bill in the House of Representatives on Friday morning. Under the Bill, war crimes such as attacks on the civilian population are excluded from the amnesty. So is terrorism and "ordinary" crimes such as theft, murder, rape, drug-smuggling etc. The Justice Ministry has released a list of 811 people who are not entitled to amnesty under the Bill, Separovic reminded the House. Croatia has resisted pressure from The Hague Tribunal to supervise war-crime trials in Croatia, Separovic said. Consequently, war criminals will be tried independently by Croatian courts. While most members expressed a favourable opinion of the Bill, Marko Miljevic (Croatian Peasants' Party) and Ivan Gabelica (Croatian Pure Party of Rights) warned the House against being "precipitate" and advising waiting for some "signs of goodwill from the other side" before passing the Bill. According to Ante Djapic (Croatian Party of Rights), Separovic's assertion that all war criminals would be punished was "an attempt to delude the public." "The Bill is very explicit and quite clear about who is to be prosecuted and who isn't," Vladimir Seks (Croatian Democratic Union) repeatedly insisted in response to these criticisms. "The Bill will speed up the restoration of Croatian authority in the Danube River area," he added. Seconding Seks, Veselin Pejnovic (Serbian National Party) said the bill was very clearly worded and advised the House to trust the Croatian judiciary to consistently apply the law. (hina) mm as 201404 MET sep 96