The Ministry has not received notification of indictments by Serbian prosecution

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On Thursday, Minister of Justice and Public Administration Ivan Malenica said the ministry had not been officially notified of the indictments against four Croatian military pilots filed by the Serbian prosecutor's office for alleged war crimes against Serbian civilians in Operation Storm.

"The Ministry received information about the procedure conducted in Serbia from the media, and we have not received official information either under bilateral treaties or under the law governing international cooperation", Malenica said.

The Minister assessed that the implementation of the Serbian Act on the Organisation of Competence of State Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings was problematic in this matter, as "a certain quasi-jurisdiction is created, i.e. a universal jurisdiction that we have repeatedly warned about and which is not acceptable to us".

Malenica pointed out that the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration had formed a special commission for cooperation with Serbia in 2018, which had met several times, but in recent years there has been no cooperation.

''On my initiative, there were attempts for the commission to meet and discuss open issues, but there was no reaction on their part, '' he said.

He added that the Military and Police Operation Storm was legitimate and conducted in accordance with international law, as affirmed by the Hague Tribunal.

''We await the reaction of the Ministry of Justice of Serbia. I have no more information about what the pilots are charged with and what is covered by the indictment", said Malenica.

Photo: Hina 
 

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