ICTY PREDICTS NO PROBLEMS IN BOSKOSKI TRANSFER

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000429 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE - KABUMOTO, BENEDICT, PFEUFFER E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL KAWC MK HR SUBJECT: ICTY PREDICTS NO PROBLEMS IN BOSKOSKI TRANSFER Classified By: Ambassador Ralph Frank for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (C) Thomas Osorio, head of the ICTY Liaison Office in Zagreb, told PolOff March 16 the court expects no problems with the transfer of Ljube Boskoski, former Macedonian Minister of Interior, from detention in Croatia to The Hague. The GoC's Office for ICTY Cooperation confirmed for Post that the indictment released on March 15 has been forwarded with an arrest warrant and transfer order to the Pula County Court where Boskoski has been held in the detention center since August 2004 under Macedonian charges for the 2002 killing of seven economic migrants from Pakistan and India during his tenure as minister. ¶2. (C) "This is a dream come true for Croatia," Osorio said, referring to how the transfer to the ICTY will resolve Croatia's inability to extradite Boskoski directly back to Macedonia due to his Croatian citizenship. "There will be no political resistance to this," he added. The only wrinkle in the case will be Boskoski's likely appeal of the extradition. In this case the ICTY will for the first time have to go through a complete extradition process, which could last several months. There are, however, no legal barriers to the extradition, and the Supreme Court is certain to uphold an extradition order. FRANK NNNN