DEBATE ON GLAVAS DETENTION DIVIDES PARLIAMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 001380

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR DICARLO; EUR/SCE HOH, BALIAN;
S/WCI WILLIAMSON, LAVINE; L/EUR JOHNSON; INR MORIN
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO NSC BRAUN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV KAWC HR WAR CRIMES
SUBJECT: DEBATE ON GLAVAS DETENTION DIVIDES PARLIAMENT

Ref: Zagreb 1352 and previous

Classified By: Political Officer Tom Selinger for reasons 1.4 (b)
& (d).


1. (U) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Speaker of Parliament Vladimir Seks
postponed a vote today that may have led to the release of MP
Branimir Glavas from detention (reftels). The planned vote did
not have PM Ivo Sanader's support and had sparked widespread
public criticism. Glavas has been in detention and reportedly on
a hunger strike since October 26, when Parliament's Mandates and
Immunities Committee voted to accept a Zagreb County Court request
to detain him to prevent witness tampering in the so-called
"Garage" war crimes investigation. The full Parliament must now
vote on whether to confirm that decision, which would keep Glavas
in detention until late November when witness testimony before the
investigative judge will be completed, and consider a separate
Osijek County Court request to allow Glavas' investigative
detention for up to one year based on the gravity of the war
crimes in the so-called "Cello-tape" case.


2. (C) The issue has dominated public discussion since Seks,
without the PM's concurrence, announced during a November 15
parliamentary debate that the ruling Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) favored only the shorter detention and would vote to deny
lifting Glavas' immunity for the one-year detention, citing a
seemingly random judicial precedent when subjects of a similar
investigation were not detained. Domestic and international
critics called the HDZ's stance an example of parliamentary
pressure on the judiciary.


3. (C) Ambassador Bradtke warned two key ministers close to
Sanader of the importance of this issue, noting that the wrong
decision could be very damaging to Croatia's reputation,
particularly in the wake of PM Sanader's successful DC visit.
Both ministers commented that the PM had not supported Seks'
action and had spent much of the previous day dealing with the
problem. When asked what the PM would do now, Finance Minister
Ivan Suker replied indirectly that there was "no going back on the
path of reform." The Ambassador intends to raise this issue
directly with Sanader on November 18 with Ambassador-at-Large for
War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson when they attend a ceremony to
honor war victims in Vukovar. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

MYSTERIOUS MOTIVES
--------------


4. (C) Seks' reasons for pushing for an early end to Glavas'
detention remain unclear, but theories are plentiful. Glavas has
threatened in the past to bring the Speaker down with him, since
Seks was chief of the local wartime Crisis Headquarters at the
time of some of the crimes, technically Glavas' superior in the
chain of command. While this is the most sensible explanation,
those involved in the current investigations have repeatedly told
post that Seks had little operational authority and is not
implicated by the evidence to date.


5. (C) Seks publicly explained that he feared Glavas might die on
his hunger strike. The HDZ could then suffer a right-wing
backlash in Slavonia, where they have just begun to recover from
the thumping they received in the May 2005 local elections at the
hands of Glavas' breakaway regional party. With parliamentary
elections due in November 2007, the HDZ is clearly calculating how
best to protect its right flank. Conversely, MP and former Osijek
mayor Zlatko Kramaric told PolOff November 16 he advised PM
Sanader that releasing Glavas would be political suicide in
Slavonia, saying Glavas' release would send the wrong message both
to the judicial officials and witnesses who worked so courageously
on the case and to the international community. Although a member
of the governing coalition, his Croatian Social Liberal Party
(HSLS) will vote against the HDZ proposal, he said.

INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
--------------


6. (C) Whatever the motives, the HDZ's hesitation on Glavas'
detention has already sparked intense reactions. Parliamentary
opposition leaders have said the Parliament has no business
picking and choosing which statute or judicial precedent applies
to the Glavas investigations -- these are matters for the courts.
The Chief State Prosecutor's Office told Post November 17 that the
Parliament's role is simply to decide whether there is
justification to waive immunity, not the specifics of how
detention is applied.


7. (C) International observers shared that assessment. Head of
the European Commission Delegation in Zagreb Vincent Degert
publicly stated that the EU would keep a very close eye on the
Glavas case. He told Ambassador Bradtke privately November 17

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that Glavas' release would send a very negative signal about the
independence of the judiciary in Croatia. Hague Tribunal Head of
Mission Thomas Osorio called Seks' handling of the Glavas
detention issue "unacceptable."

BRADTKE