Minister Žužul received Judge Theodor Meron, President of the ICTY

Minister Žužul welcomed Judge Melon, who is visiting Croatia for the first time, and thanked him for his principled presidency of the ICTY. Minister Žužul expressed his conviction that the co-operation with the ICTY will facilitate the realisation of Croatia’s foreign policy goals.

Judge Meron thanked Minister Žužul for a constructive talk in which they tackled a wide range of issues regarding Croatia’s co-operation with the Tribunal. Judge Meron agreed for the most part with Minister Žužul on what needs to be done to ensure full co-operation between Croatia and the ICTY. ICTY President Meron said that he was guaranteed that Croatia will continue to fulfil its obligations towards the ICTY in accordance with the international law.

Judge Meron said that he also expects meetings with Croatian officials, especially president of the Croatian Supreme Court and the county judges. He pointed out that this is a great opportunity to gather information first hand about the progress of the Croatian justice as regards the treatment of war criminals, which requires a highly developed judiciary. He positively reviewed the progress in preparing the Croatian judges for assuming the cases and conducting procedures against war criminals in accordance with the international standards. He also pointed out that it is extremely important that the rest of the fugitives be brought before the ICTY, especially Gen. Ante Gotovina. Judge Meron applauded the Croatian government’s efforts in co-operation with the Hague Tribunal.