CRO GOVT CONSIDERS ICTY'S SUBPOENA DECISION DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

ZAGREB, July 21 (Hina) - The decision on a subpoena by The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) represents an exceptionally dangerous precedent for all countries, regardless of the fact that it is very inconvenient for Croatia, since the same thing could happen to other countries as well, Croatian vice premier Ljerka Mintas-Hodak told reporters on Monday. The big question is whether such a decision can be regarded as part of international legal customs, as a precedent to gain general application, she said, adding that the Croatian Government would issue an official statement on the matter. The Croatian Government absolutely disagrees with this way of decision-making on The Hague tribunal's part, Mintas-Hodak said, since it believes that most international legal experts, who have been chosen by the tribunal and who independently voiced their opinion on the matter, were against the introduction of this measure. "The tribunal should have respected their opinion and taken it into consideration, since this very opinion was supposed to serve as evidence in favour of the standpoint also made by the Republic of Croatia", said vice premier Mintas-Hodak. Speaking on the next steps of the Croatian Government, she said it would use all legal means at its disposal, including an appeal on this decision, and court proceedings before the International Court of Law (also based in The Hague), which is the only body that can ascertain if this decision by the ICTY is legally founded. "Croatia shall use all disposable means in order to defend its right as a sovereign country not to have such measures imposed, and the right not to present before the tribunal those documents which it considers of national interest and which, therefore, cannot be publicly submitted to the tribunal", Mintas-Hodak pointed out. Voicing her personal opinion, she said the tribunal could not carry the matter to the end, since it has not stated its final standpoint on sanctions to be imposed in case its order was not complied with, probably, she added, because the tribunal understands this issue is crucial to the assessment on whether the subpoena can be issued to sovereign countries or not. "In a way, the heart of the matter remains unsolved, despite the fact that the tribunal actually advocates the standpoint urged from the very beginning by Judge McDonald", vice premier Mintas-Hodak concluded. (hina) ha mm 211527 MET jul 97