Knin is located inside the Republic of Croatia

FROM THE HAGUE, MARTIC LEADS THE KNIN GOVERNMENT, LOCATED IN PARIS

THE HAGUE, 14.07.2006.  
Sense Tribunal

In his cross-examination, the first defense witness said the RSK should be restored, adding that the RSK Government in exile functions today. Its seat is in Paris and the accused Milan Martic is its president. The only “state” to recognize the RSK is the just as non-existent Transdniestr Republic

In the cross-examination today, the prosecution challenged the claims made by former RSK foreign minister Slobodan Jarcevic that his government favored peace, only seeking autonomy for Serbs in Croatia and that the other side was to blame for the failure of the talks. The prosecutor contends that the negotiations were a failure because the Serb side would settle for anything less than statehood for the RSK.

Faced with several documents on the talks and statements made by some RSK officials, Jarcevic admitted that the Krajina Serbs wanted their state, adding that the RSK should be restored. He said that Japan and Nigeria recognized the statehood of the former entity in the Croatian territory in their official documents. However, the only state the RSK was recognized by and recognized in turn was the Transdniestr Republic. As he said, this republic is located between Ukraine and Moldova. He had to repeat the name of the republic several times for the record, at the request of the judges.

The RSK Government, its former foreign minister says, is still functioning, not in Knin but in Paris. Milan Martic is its president, and will remain in the office “until the conditions have been created” for the elections. According to the witness, the accused might get re-elected president of the state. Jarcevic also announced a real news scoop today in the courtroom: mutual “recognition of the RSK Government and other governments in exile” is expected to take place any day now.

Former Krajina foreign minister today agreed with the statements made by Martic’s predecessor, former RSK president Goran Hadzic, who said in July 1993 that “all calls for the coexistence with Croats are tantamount to treason” and that those Serbs who chose to remain in parts of Croatia not under RSK control were “fascists loyal to Tudjman’s government”.

Because of the summer recess, the trial will continue on 14 August. Former Montenegrin president Momir Bulatovic will begin his testimony in Martic's defense.