Croatia - ICTY

Brammertz: No outstanding issues with Croatia

03.05.2012 u 15:50

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The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serge Brammertz, met with the Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Cooperation with the ICTY and other international courts, Neven Mimica, in Zagreb on Thursday.

The two officials said that the cooperation between Croatia and the Hague-based tribunal was good, and Brammertz confirmed that there were no outstanding issues that might burden relations between Croatia and his office, the government's press service said in a statement.

Also attending the meeting were Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic and Assistant Justice Minister Gordan Markotic.

Brammertz was visiting Croatia as part of preparations for his regular report to the UN Security Council. In his previous report in December, he said that Croatia was adequately dealing with the reduced number of requests for legal assistance from his office, but expressed concern over statements by government officials at the time who questioned the value and impartiality of the ICTY and over the adoption of a law that invalidated legal acts passed by Serbia concerning war crimes committed in Croatia in the 1990s.

Last month Brammertz told media that his office was no longer insisting on the delivery of documents relating to a 1995 Croatian military offensive known as Operation Storm, which had strained the cooperation between Croatia and the ICTY for long. He said that the invalidation law, passed by the previous Croatian Parliament, was an unfortunate development and an obstacle to regional cooperation, hailing the announcement by the new government that it would abolish it.