SARAJEVO, March 7 (Hina) - Ante Jelavic and three other senior officials of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) have been declared responsible for violating the Dayton peace agreement and undermining the country's
constitutional order and have therefore been removed from all public and party offices in line with a decision by the international community's High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch. Jelavic and his associates have been undermining the Dayton agreement for a long time trying to protect their privileges, Petritsch told reporters in Sarajevo on Wednesday announcing his decision to replace the senior HDZ officials whom he holds most responsible for the decisions by which the Croat National Assembly (HNS) on March 3 practically established parallel institutions of authority in the country. Under Petritsch's decision, Jelavic has been replaced as a member of Bo
SARAJEVO, March 7 (Hina) - Ante Jelavic and three other senior
officials of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ
BiH) have been declared responsible for violating the Dayton peace
agreement and undermining the country's constitutional order and
have therefore been removed from all public and party offices in
line with a decision by the international community's High
Representative Wolfgang Petritsch.
Jelavic and his associates have been undermining the Dayton
agreement for a long time trying to protect their privileges,
Petritsch told reporters in Sarajevo on Wednesday announcing his
decision to replace the senior HDZ officials whom he holds most
responsible for the decisions by which the Croat National Assembly
(HNS) on March 3 practically established parallel institutions of
authority in the country. Under Petritsch's decision, Jelavic has
been replaced as a member of Bosnia-Herzegovina's three-man
presidency and HDZ leader.
He has also been banned from holding any public office in the
country.
The same penalties were declared for senior HDZ officials Ivo
Andric Luzanski, Marko Tokic and Zdravko Batinic.
Petritsch told reporters his decision had not been an easy one and
was the result of a series of consultations with all international
factors.
The High Representative said he simply had no other choice as the
HDZ and Jelavic had persistently refused to cooperate in the
implementation of the Dayton agreement while spreading fear among
Bosnian Croats of being allegedly endangered.
They used the worst arguments of the nationalists from the past.
One need not remind this is exactly how the war in former Yugoslavia
started, Petritsch said.
The international representative said he had got the impression
that Jelavic was not concerned about he well-being of the people he
allegedly represented but rather about nationalist and even
criminal elements in his party. The HDZ's policy under Jelavic's
leadership in the end reduced itself to an attempt to revive the old
model of Herzeg-Bosnia, he added.
Petritsch said no economic sanctions would be imposed on the
Bosnian Croat people because the entire international community
wanted the country's economy to revive, which would not happen in
the third entity the HDZ had been working towards.
He said that he did not expect any reactions to Jelavic's
replacement which would go outside the legal framework and laws.
Asked whether Jelavic could be prosecuted for undermining the
country's constitutional order, he said it was a matter to be
decided by independent judiciary.
(hina) sb rml