Croatia's position on BiH request to be known only after documents are examined

Croatia's position on Bosnia and Herzegovina's request for legal aid, which links Croatian generals from the time of the 1995 Operation Flash with allegations of war crimes, will be adopted once the relevant documentation has been studied by the Justice Ministry.

This is the conclusion of a meeting between Croatian government officials and wartime military commanders, held on Thursday.

"The meeting was very good, the talks were sincere and open and the government informed the commanders what the case is about and heard their position. We agreed to meet again on this topic after the Justice Ministry submits to the government a detailed report on the matter," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a news conference.

"All decisions (regarding the case) will be made in line with Croatian laws and international agreements signed by Croatia," Plenković said after talks with the generals, commanders and high-ranking officers who took part in the 1995 Operation Flash and whose prosecution BiH has requested over alleged war crimes.

Plenković recalled that the Justice Ministry on 6 August received via diplomatic channels a request from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take over the prosecution of high-ranking army officers due to suspicion of violations of international law during Operation Flash with which Croatia regained control of the Serb-occupied Western Slavonia region and the town of Okučani, located about 130 kilometres southeast of Zagreb.

The case concerns civilians killed in Bosanska Gradiška and Kozarska Dubica during that operation. The BiH request for legal aid cites war crimes against civilians and violations of the laws and customs of war, Plenković said.

Bosanska Gradiška and Kozarska Dubica are towns in what today is Bosnia and Herzegovina's Serb entity of Republika Srpska and they border Croatia.

The wartime commanders are connected with the case by a formulation about orders for indiscriminate shelling, the PM explained.

The wartime commanders, generals, admirals and officers who took part in the liberating operations Flash and Storm were today informed about the content of BiH's request.

"We stressed once again that this is not an indictment. There are no indictments, they do not exist," Plenković said.

The request for the transfer of the case temporarily suspends all actions regarding the case by the competent institutions in BiH, he said.

The Justice Ministry will analyse the extensive documentation that has arrived and after that, decisions will be made in agreement with BiH institutions, said Plenković.

He repeated that Croatian national interests would be protected as would the defensive and legitimate character of Operation Flash and interests and dignity of Croatia's wartime commanders.

Text: Hina

News