Justice minister: We are working for Serbia to change universal jurisdiction law

Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said on Wednesday that he was happy that Croatian war veteran Veljko Maric had been extradited to Croatia and that as a member state of the European Union (EU) Croatia is working on having Serbia amend the law on universal jurisdiction pursuant to which Maric was arrested in the first place.

Asked by reporters what that meant, he said that Serbia is on its way to the EU, Croatia is a member of the EU and anything that deviates from legal standards that exist in the EU will be put up for discussion just like it was with Croatia. "Croatia will not impose any conditions on Serbia as that not a bilateral issue but a matter of accession to the EU and accession to a club that has rules and determines whether they are being met or not, and Croatia is in that club," Miljenic told the press outside the government building on Wednesday.

He did not comment on the possibility of Maric being pardoned, adding that Maric is a convict like other convicts.

Asked about a possible extended investigation in Serbia and whether Croatia could take on the case, he said that in principle Croatia was ready for this and any other case. "It is up to the state prosecution to see if there is any evidence and what is happening, that is up to the prosecution in Serbia," he said.

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic commented that Maric's extradition could contribute to relations between Croatia and Serbia as this refers to a matter of recognising a ruling by Serbia's judiciary.

"Over the past years, several dozen convicts have been transferred to Serbia and as far as I know, this is the first case that a convict has been transferred from Serbia to Croatia. That is good and maybe it will be even better," he said, adding that over the past weeks he had conducted several confidential talks with Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic concerning this issue and added that it was his "duty toward every Croatian citizens who unfortunately is found in such a situation."

Croatian citizen Veljko Maric, who was serving a 12-year prison term in Serbia for war crimes in Croatia, was transferred to Croatia late on Tuesday afternoon and escorted to Zagreb's Remetinec prison where he will serve out the remainder of his sentence.

(Hina) sp

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