BOSKOSKI TRANSFERRED TO THE HAGUE

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000475 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI, EUR/SCE THE HAGUE FOR JOHNSON AND KAYE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KAWC PREL MK HR SUBJECT: BOSKOSKI TRANSFERRED TO THE HAGUE REF: A) 04 ZAGREB 829 B)04 ZAGREB 933 C) 04 ZAGREB 1567 ¶1. (U) Croatian authorities today transferred Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljubo Boskoski to the custody of the ICTY in The Hague. Croatian authorities had been holding Boskoski in a Pula prison since August of 2004 on charges stemming from the murder of seven Pakistanis in Macedonia in ¶2002. Per reftels, Boskoski was being brought up on these charges in Croatia because he holds Croatian citizenship and therefore could not be extradited to Macedonia to face these charges there. Croatian law allows for the extradition of its citizens to the ICTY and other international tribunals. ¶2. (SBU) The ICTY representative office in Zagreb told Poloff that the actual transfer went smoothly. Boskoski had waived his right to contest or appeal his extradition, which simplified the proceedings considerably. The court in Pula carefully but expeditiously suspended the domestic criminal case and released Boskoski to Interpol custody. Boskoski was escorted by Interpol officers on a direct Zagreb-Amsterdam flight and turned over to Dutch custody on arrival. FRANK NNNN