Zagreb Daily Report - February 3, 2010

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000077 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HR ECON SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - February 3, 2010 ¶1. (U) Economy Minister Meets with Shipyard Unions; Announces Tender Dates: Economy Minister Popijac met on February 2 with representatives of the principal shipyard workers' unions to explain the terms of the upcoming shipyard privatization tender. Unions expressed cautious optimism to the media regarding the tenders' prospects for success, despite the failure of a previous round to generate any acceptable bids. The tender release date will be February 15, with a closing date for bids of April 19. Note: further comments on the shipyards made by the Minister to the Ambassador in a meeting earlier on February 2 will be reported septel. ¶2. (U) Judiciary Committee Backs Chief State Prosecutor's Reappointment: The Croatian Parliament's Judiciary Committee on February 2 endorsed the government's proposal for the reappointment of Mladen Bajic for a third term as Chief State Prosecutor. Members of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) voted against reappointment, criticizing Bajic for allegedly taking political instructions in prosecuting corruption cases and questioning why vigorous investigations only began after the resignation of Ivo Sanader as prime minister last summer. Bajic countered that the new Criminal Procedure Act, which went into effect last July with significant input from post's ICITAP program and which granted prosecutors most of the investigative powers previously held by investigative judges, had provided the real impetus for the recent wave of corruption investigations. At the hearing, Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic also highlighted the role Bajic, who has worked in the prosecutor's office since 1975, had played in amending laws necessary for an effective fight against corruption and improving the organization of the prosecutor's office. Simonovic also highlighted Bajic's success in obtaining more results in war crime prosecutions, noting that domestic handling of war crimes cases was no longer a serious obstacle on Croatia's path to European Union membership. FOLEY