Decisions adopted in the Croatian parliament on Friday are a serious attack on parliamentarism and a prelude to a national crisis, said Vesna Pusic, the president of the parliamentary bench of the Croatian People's Party and the Croatian Pensioners' Party (HNS/HSU).
The institution of immunity is the foundation of every parliament and it exists to protect freedom of speech of deputies. The decision the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) adopted today will enable every parliamentary majority from today on to terrorize the institution of parliament and parliamentarism, Pusic said commenting on the parliamentary decision to strip Social Democratic Party (SDP) deputy Zeljko Jovanovic of immunity from prosecution.
Also, the adoption of the law invalidating war crimes indictments from the former Yugoslavia and Serbia permanently traps all Croatian citizens for whom there is a slightest suspicion that an indictment was issued against them, because the problem is not being dealt with and the law applies only on Croatian soil. The law must urgently be annulled in order to avoid a serious national crisis, Pusic said.
Parliament today secured the necessary quorum for voting on the items, as 77 deputies attended the session. It adopted by a majority vote the law invalidating war crimes indictments from the former Yugoslavia and Serbia, and the declaration regulating cooperation between the judicial authorities of Croatia and Serbia in some segments. SDP MP Zeljko Jovanovic was stripped of parliamentary immunity.
