BELGRADE: Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on Thursday the Croatian Government will not give up on the adoption of the Law on Annulment of Serbian Indictments against Croatian freedom fighters, adding that the law will only be strengthened before it is returned to the Parliament for passage. She rejected allegations that the law was abandoned because of the critics that came from the European Commission and asserted that by accusing Croatian citizens of war crimes, Serbia offended the sovereignty of Croatia. “By adopting the law, Croatia will send a clear message that it was enough, that it is unacceptable to expect indictments based on the documents of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) against those who defended Croatia and in the first place Vukovar, a majority of whom passed through Serbian concentration camps,” the prime minister said. She further invited Serbia and Croatia “to sign an international agreement which will provide grounds for the issue of responsibility for war crimes to be solved in accordance to the principles of international law.” Croatian President Ivo Josipović declared his opposition to the law explaining that the political message that will be sent not only to Serbia, but to the world is ambiguous and can cause severe political harm. Not unlike the Prime Minister Kosor, he suggested that Croatia and Serbia develop a system that would guarantee that all those who committed crimes will be prosecuted and punished. “If there is enough evidence that a suspect has committed a crime, he must be prosecuted no matter what position he occupies at the moment. If this is true for Serbian citizens, the same must be true for Croatian,” said Serbian State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice Slobodan Homen. Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević expressed his hope that Croatia will not pass the law on annulment of Serbian indictments, arguing that they cannot be annulled by a single law. He further noted a progress in cooperation between Serbian and Croatian war crime prosecutors, but continued by criticizing Croatia for “welcoming the cooperation when it judged that it was to its benefit and when that cooperation was perceived to be potentially detrimental to Croatia, a media campaign was launched.” Croatian electronic media have reported that the European Commission warned Croatia to be careful in consideration of the draft law, citing that it is important not to “jeopardize regional cooperation directed towards the prosecution of war crimes.” Furthermore, Peter Stano, spokesperson of the European commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fille, said that the European Commission encourages Croatia to continue constructive dialogue in the region on the issues of war crimes. Serbia sent Croatia incitements against approximately 40 persons charging them with war crimes and genocide over Serbian civilians in the area of the city of Vukovar in 1991. Some of the most prominent Croatian war commandants and popular figures in Croatia such as Vladimir Šeks, Ivan Vekić, Branimir Glavaš i Tomislav Merčep are also on the list of those facing war crimes charges from Serbia. BM
