ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT - MAY 28, 2009

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000302 SIPDIS FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PPD, EUR/RPM AND EUR/ERA OSD FOR POPOVICH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV HR SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT - MAY 28, 2009 ¶1. (U) FUGITIVE MP BRANIMIR GLAVAS THREATENS JUDGE: Fugitive war criminal and still Member of Parliament Branimir Glavas called the office of the Zagreb County Court and indirectly threatened Judge Zeljko Horvatovic, who convicted Glavas earlier this month to ten years in prison for war crimes. Croatian press speculate that prosecutors may charge Glavas for threatening a judge. Meanwhile, Glavas remains in Bosnia where he fled before the conviction. Croatian news reports have noted that, according to the Western Herzegovina Canton Police Station, Glavas' application for Bosnian citizenship was processed in just two months, which -- says the paper -- makes the process highly suspect because of a generally slow and ineffective Bosnian bureaucracy. (VDjukic) ¶2. FOREIGN AMBASSADORS BRIEFED ON CROATIA'S COOPERATION WITH ICTY: On May 27, Croatian Minister of Justice Ivan Simonovic and the State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Bianca Matkovic, held a briefing for chiefs of foreign missions to discuss Croatia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Matkovic emphasized that the Croatian government was fully cooperating with the Hague-based tribunal and that it would remain committed to this cooperation. Justice Minister Simonovic notified diplomats of Croatia's latest moves aimed at searching for documents wanted by the ICTY prosecution. Minister Simonovic informed the Ambassadors about his latest meeting with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz and about continuing differences in their positions on the requested documents which have not been found. (VDjukic) ¶3. FOURTEEN DEFENDANTS IN "OPERATION INDEX" FOUND GUILTY: On May 27, Zagreb County Court announced its verdict against 14 defendants, including professors, students, and intermediaries, charged with corruption at the Faculty of Transport Sciences. Two individuals received jail time: the former vice-dean of the Zagreb Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering and the main "middleman" in the transactions between students and professors were sentenced to two and a half years and a year and a half in prison, respectively. The other 12 accused in that case, including senior lecturers, received suspended sentences. Two other cases from "Operation Index", one involving 33 defendants from the Faculty of Transport Science and the other involving 23 defendants from the Economics Faculty, are still ongoing. The investigation, which involved a massive raid at two university faculties in September, 2008, is one of Croatia's largest corruption cases to date. (VDjukic) BRADTKE