ICTY INDICTS NORAC: CROATIA PREPARING FOR CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000964

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI:PROSPER, EUR/SCE:KABUMOTO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014
TAGS: KAWC PREL KJUS HR
SUBJECT: ICTY INDICTS NORAC: CROATIA PREPARING FOR CASE
TRANSFER

Classified By: Poloff Justin Friedman, reasons 1.5 (b) & (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY and COMMENT: On May 25, the ICTY announced the
issuance of an indictment against Croatian retired General
Mirko Norac for his role in the Medak Pocket case. ICTY Head
of Office Thomas Osorio (protect) told us that the Tribunal
intends to transfer this case to Croatia for prosecution.
Minister of Justice Vesna Skare-Ozbolt told Ambassador Frank
that she was concerned about the timing of the indictment but
that the GoC was ready to work through the legal issues to
ensure the Croatian judicial system was ready to try the
case. Although this announcement compresses the time the GoC
has to prepare for this first case transfer, we believe that
the key players, including the Minister of Justice and the
Chief State Prosecutor, will do everything necessary to
ensure the Croatian legal system is ready to try this case.
END SUMMARY and COMMENT

Norac Indicted
--------------


2. (C) The May 25 ICTY announcement of an indictment against
Croatian retired General Mirko Norac came as a surprise.
ICTY Head of Office Thomas Osorio told us on May 24 that he
had expected that the judge would not issue the indictment
for several weeks. Osorio regretted the timing, as the ICTY
on May 21 had just begun the first of a series of joint
training seminars with the Ministry of Justice to prepare
Croatian prosecutors and judges to handle indictments
transferred to Croatia for prosecution under Article 11 bis
of the ICTY Statute.

Transfer to Croatia
--------------


3. (C) Osorio said that the ICTY Office of the Prosector had
been planning to join the Norac indictment to that of Rahem
Ademi and make this case the first one transferred to
Croatia. However, as the weekend training seminar had
verified, there were several legal issues outstanding that
needed to be worked through. The key issue is how to
prosecute command responsibility charges absent a
corresponding statute in the Croatian Criminal Code valid at
the time of the crimes. Osorio believes, as does OSCE Rule
of Law Unit Head Mary Wycoff, that there are sufficient
elements in Croatian law, including the Yugoslav National
Army Military Law (valid in Croatia from 1992 to 1996),to
cover command responsibility.

Preparation Timing Compressed
--------------


4. (C) The problem for the GoC and the ICTY is building a
sufficiently strong legal case around the command
responsibility issue. The weekend seminar confirmed that
this issue remains controversial among Croatian legal
professionals. Osorio reported that Croatian judges, led by
Supreme Court Justice Damir Kos, will insist on a
Constitutional Court ruling in the matter. Osorio had hoped
to have much of the summer to build this case, but the early
release of the Norac indictment will compress this timing.

Bad Political Timing for GoC
--------------


5. (C) Minister of Justice Vesna Skare-Ozbolt told Ambassador
Frank on May 25 that she was also concerned about the timing
of the indictment. The Sabor is scheduled to discuss the
ICTY indictments of Cermak and Markac in the next day or two,
and the GoC has been working hard to manage the tone of this
debate. The release of the Norac indictment would make it
more difficult to keep inflammatory rhetoric out of the
debate, even if the debate's conclusions have been worked out
in advance.


6. (C) Skare-Ozbolt said it would be important at the outset
that it be made clear to the public that the Norac case would
be transferred to Croatia for prosecution. Osorio told us
that there would be no arrest warrant or request for transfer
for Norac. However, the ICTY press release issued May 25
makes no mention of these points.

COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) We believe that Minister Skare-Ozbolt, along with
State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic, are committed to preparing the
Croatian legal system as much as possible to ensure that
cases transferred from ICTY are properly handled. Aside from


the legal issues to be resolved, the ICTY Statute 11 bis
requires that the Tribunal monitor how these cases are
handled, with the option of pulling the trial back to The
Hague if the GoC cannot handle its responsibilities. Osorio
and Bajic have told us that they want to have a successful
first prosecution and are taking steps to ensure a success.
The compressed timetable will add to the challenge, but not
make it insurmountable.
FRANK


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