Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said on Thursday that by applying for amicus curiae status Croatia had tried to protect its interests before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and help the Appeals Chamber in deciding on the appeals by Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.
"The Appeals Chamber has decided that our interests are not at risk because the ICTY decides on individual responsibility, and has also refused interference in assisting the court because it is within its competence," Miljenic told the media, adding that the Chamber had decided that Croatia would not be of use to it in considering the appeals.
The ICTY on Wednesday rejected the application for amicus curiae status in the Gotovina and Markac case, which was filed by the government of former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on December 16.
"The Appeals Chamber finds that the locus of the Motion's arguments, Croatia's national interests, is beyond the scope of the issues on appeal. Accordingly, the Appeals Chamber is not satisfied that granting Croatia leave to submit an amicus curiae brief would assist in the proper determination of Gotovina's and Markac's appeals against the Trial Judgement," it said.
The Croatian government applied for amicus curiae status believing that it could help in the appeal proceedings in three areas - the charge of a joint criminal enterprise, excessive shelling, and the guilt standard in the Trial Chamber's judgement.
Miljenic said that Croatia was currently studying whether there were any procedural possibilities for further steps. "We were hoping for a different decision, but we respect this one and accept it," he said.
The Appeals Chamber said that "the Trial Chamber's findings regarding the existence of a joint criminal enterprise in no way constitute findings of responsibility on the part of the state of Croatia."
When asked if Croatia could use that finding in the case of the counter-suit for genocide which Serbia had filed against it before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Miljenic said that in principle Croatia would use that finding and everything else that could strengthen its legal position in the case. He said that the case before the ICJ was currently at the stage of written submissions and that he could not discuss details.
Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac were sentenced to 24 and 18 years' imprisonment respectively last April, as members of a joint criminal enterprise, for war crimes and the persecution of Serb civilians during and after 1995's military offensive called Operation Storm. The case is under appeal, and the first hearing is expected to be held in March.
In 2006, the ICTY's Trial Chamber also rejected a Croatian application for amicus curiae status in the same case.
