Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday assessed the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's (ICTY) qualification of a joint criminal enterprise by six former high-ranking officials from the wartime Croat entity of Herceg-Bosna together with the political and military leadership of Croatia, "does not correspond to reality", and expressed his belief that the Appeals Chamber will take into consideration that although Croatia had made mistakes in relation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was that country's partner, ally and strongly aided it.
The ICTY Trial Chamber on Wednesday concluded by majority, Judge Jean Claude Antonetti dissenting, that the conflict between the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Bosnian army in 1993 - 1994 was an international conflict and the majority of crimes the accused are charged with were committed as part of a joint criminal enterprise with the participation of some leaders in the Republic of Croatia including President Franjo Tudjman.
"We hope and trust that the Appeals Chamber will review the ruling and that it will take into consideration everything that we consider exists because we believe that this qualification does not correspond to reality", the PM said at a cabinet meeting.
He underscored that he could not comment on individual responsibility, recalling that the defence itself had said that crimes had been committed. "Someone in the end has to answer for them. Naturally, the question is who and how long. However, here like in previous indictments the prosecution is making claims of a joint criminal enterprise, this time with the intention to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina and join it to Croatia", said Milanovic, recalling that the definition of a joint criminal enterprise in the case of Croatia and the trial against generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markac and Ivan Cermak had been quashed by the Appeals Chamber.
"This refers to Bosnia and these are implications that do not concern us. We are a country, our policies need not be identical but the legal consequences are the same and what was said in the ruling does not correspond to reality", he said.
If we can divide Bosnia and Herzegovina into a country of three nations, as it is defined by its constitution, then without the vote of the Croatian people in Bosnia at the (sovereignty) referendum in 1992 Bosnia now would not be an independent country, the PM said.
"As such, there is a lot of arguments and I believe they all tells us the same thing but the court is the court", he said and recalled that the outcome of the appellate proceedings should now be awaited. And as we saw, the appeal chamber's ruling can be different and sometimes unexpected, he concluded.
