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Josipovic comments on generals' trial at ICTY, revised budget ...

Autor: mses
ZAGREB, Aug 31 (Hina) - Responding to a reporter's question what he expected regarding the final stage of the trial of Generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac before the ICTY, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said on Tuesday that he did not expect anything, as "this is a matter for the judiciary".

"We are waiting for a judgement. Naturally, I would like the judgement to be favourable for the generals, but if somebody has committed a crime, they must answer for it," Josipovic said in an interview with Media Servis, a commercial media network.

The prosecution and defence teams for the three Croatian generals are presenting their closing arguments before the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

When asked to comment on the Hypo Bank scandal and whether the investigation in this case would lead to former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Josipovic said that it was important that the police and prosecutors finally solve the issue.

"I don't want to speculate about who is guilty," Josipovic said, adding that it was unfair to publish Sanader's photo on newspapers' covers implicating his guilt, although no indictment has been issued.

Asked to comment on the revised budget for 2010 and whether the government was managing public finances well, Josipovic answered that it was not good to assess the situation only by the budget.

"The budget is a consequence, not the cause of the problem," the president said.

I expect the government to revive economic ambitions and resources which are not being used, he said, pushing for large-scale reforms in the public administration, reducing the number of local self-government units and for a drastic overhaul of the tax system so that budget spending could be covered by budget revenues.

"This budget certainly is not development-oriented. Its first function is to preserve social peace," Josipovic said.

He said that Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and he would soon attend a session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In October, the Croatian head of state will visit Pope Benedict XVI.

(Hina) ms

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