VJESNIK - ICTY JUDGE CHANGES HER MIND

ZAGREB, March 10 (Hina) - Zagreb's daily "Vjesnik" on Monday runs a front- page commentary on the latest demands from the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague related to the Blaskic case. "The renowned judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Gabrielle Kirk McDonald does not give up. After lying low for a while, last week she again sent two orders to Croatian addresses," the article entitled "International Tribunal and Credibility" says. The article refers to the judge's insistance, under the threat of punishment, that Croatian Defence Minister Gojko Susak and his Bosnian federation counterpart, Ante Jelavic, appear before the Tribunal . Stressing that the acts of Judge McDonald reflect an increasing nervousness about the evident loss of credibility, the author points out that she indeed leaves a possibility for the two ministers to express their views regarding the Tribunal's authority to issue such orders by 1 April. However, he warns that "the fact that the judge decided on such a move after the last hearing in the Blaskic case corroborates assumptions that in the process against this Croatian general, ICTY in fact has no real evidence". Vjesnik stresses that in its nervousness ICTY got lost, pointing out that the Croatian minister is asked to not only submit (alleged) evidence against General Blaskic, but also to accuse himself and his country. "Croatia would thus, according to a determined plan, become the victim of its own cooperation," the daily stresses and recalls that the same order arrived at the address of Minister Susak in mid-February. The author points out that Croatia was at the time ready to submit the whole case to the UN Security Council, but the Tribunal's judge expressed readiness to reach an agreement with the Croatian side in an informal conversation. (hina) lm ha mm 101425 MET mar 97