Croatian President Stjepan Mesic Sljivancanin obviously wanted to shift the responsibility to others, adding however, that he would not succeed, because this claim was too naive for the tribunal to believe. "He, who is to blame, whose soldiers killed wounded people, killed our men at the hospital, cannot ask for any excuse, This a naive defence," Mesic told reporters.
Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said he heard of this "stupid statement", adding that in his opinion Sljivancanin "attempted to shift responsibility to others by using a cheap trick". "We know that doctor Juraj Njavri and other Croatian doctors who were in the Vukovar hospital (at the time) are crown witnesses against Sljivancanin. Therefore one should smear the witness to remove the responsibility from oneself, but this will not stand," PM Sanader said.
Asked to comment on a document in possession of Banja Luka police which accuses Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council
of taking part in war crimes in Bosnia, President Mesic said "I have no comment, because I have no information about that".
Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks commented with one word: "Nonsense".