The arrest of Croatian war veteran Tihomir Purda cannot be linked to the publication of the register of Croatian veterans, as the warrant for his arrest was issued in 2007 and the register was published last year, President Ivo Josipovic said on Monday.
It is quite absurd to claim that a warrant issued in 2007 is the result of the publication of the register in 2010, Josipovic told reporters, adding that such an argument did not hold water and that the Veterans Ministry had not thought its position through in this matter.
Josipovic said the list of alleged suspects wanted by Serbia was not credible and that he had asked those in charge how the list was compiled and who leaked it. "I think there will be a lot of very interesting surprises."
Asked if it was an omission by Croatian bodies that Purda did not know that a warrant had been issued for his arrest, Josipovic said this begged the question why Croatian prosecutorial bodies had not checked the claims contained in the warrant and that this question should be put to the Croatian interior minister and State Attorney's Office.
Asked if Purda should have been informed about the warrant, Josipovic said it was not a question of notification, as prosecutorial bodies were not services, but that, if there was information that someone committed a crime, this should be checked.
Regarding the publication of the Croatian War Veterans Register, Josipovic said the list of the true veterans was a list of honourable people and not criminals that one should hide.
He said the list perhaps contained the names of those who had not been engaged in warfare but supported the defence of the country in another way, and perhaps a minor number of those who did not deserve to be on the list.
"I think honourable Croatian veterans deserve that the list be public and that it be a list of honourable people who defended this country. There's not even one reason why that list should not be published in some way. Public opinion polls have shown this and veterans are even keener on the publication. I'm confident that the Register will be published sooner or later."
Josipovic said the issue of publication was political and not legal. "Legally, this problem can be solved very easily. The publication of the Register is actually a matter of political will. The government has authority over that and it is now the way the government wants it."
