Judicial System in Croatia Ridiculous

09.02.06

The judicial situation in Croatia as well as the overbearing behavior of the UN Court is outrageous.

The arrest and imprisonment of Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetic is a perfect example.

Domagoj has been accused that he recently published names of so called protected witnesses from the ICTY trial of Croatian General Blaskic, yet the very names were given to him by the ICTY prosecution office itself.

Domagoj is not a war criminal, which is the purpose of trials at the ICTY. As a journalist he has the right to publish facts that are given to him from all sources. He is not publishing lies. The UN Court is angry with him because he has criticized it for practicing political bias, as in the case of Croatian General Gotovina, in which case the ICTY knew very well that Gen. Gotovina  was not responsible for any ethnic cleansing of the Serb population in Croatia during Operation Storm, since it was made abundantly clear during the Milosevic trial that the Serbs were given orders to leave by their own leadership.
 
At the same time, the Croatian government is using the ICTY arrest order to silence Domagoj, who has revealed corruption and other undemocratic moves by the Croatian government elite, which is still largely tinged with communism.
 
Domagoj is currently undergoing medical treatment in the prison hospital in Croatia due to a hunger strike. He has spent 30 days in a Zagreb prison on orders from the UN Court Prosecutors without being charged. 

He has made clear he is prepared to comply with the ICTY order not to publish the witness list from the Blaskic trial. He appealed his detention on August 9 and the UN Court has to date ignored his appeal.

Hilda Foley
North Tustin, California, USA