Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor was asked by reporters on Wednesday whether there would be any sanctions against Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic for his failure to promptly inform her and the government about war crimes indictments issued by Serbian authorities against Croatian citizens.
Kosor said it was difficult to accept Bosnjakovic's explanation that he had thought that the indictments were not so important, adding that "the Justice Ministry should have notified me immediately."
Kosor was speaking to reporters after a visit to the enterprise zone in Antunovac, just southwest of the eastern city of Osijek.
When asked how it was possible that President Ivo Josipovic had known about the latest indictments from Serbia while she had not, the prime minister said that if the president got that information, the question is where he got if from, adding that Josipovic should have notified the government.
"Had I known about the indictments, I would have taken several steps. First and foremost, we would have notified the Croatian veterans named in the indictments so they knew what they might expect," Kosor said. She added that in that case the procedure would have been initiated immediately to pass a law declaring the Serbian indictments null and void.
Kosor said that Croatia wanted to try all people accused of war crimes, but it could not agree to Serbia extending its jurisdiction to Croatia or allow further harassment of Croatian veterans, especially in a year when Croatia celebrated 20 years of independence.
