Press release: Croatia will use all available mechanisms to protect Croatian pilots

The Ministry of Justice and Public Administration has not received any official information from the competent Serbian authorities on the issue or confirmation of indictments against four Croatian Air Force pilots allegedly charged by the Serbian side with committing war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Operation Storm.

The Republic of Serbia has not requested international legal assistance in this case, so information on this procedure is available to the Croatian authorities only from speculation and semi-information transmitted by the Serbian media.

The persons accused by the Serbian authorities of alleged crimes have not been informed of the initiation of criminal proceedings, nor have they been examined at any stage of the criminal proceedings, or even requested to be examined by the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia.

This clearly violates their rights as accused persons in criminal proceedings guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which are exercised through the application of international legal assistance instruments.

Serbia is once again trying to take over the role of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia by declaring itself competent in the territories of other sovereign, internationally recognised states, without any restrictions which are part of international law.

Such an attitude is contrary to the rule of law, international law and international criminal law. Furthermore, such an approach presents an obstacle to addressing outstanding issues not only in the area of judicial cooperation, but also in addressing the issue of missing persons.

The final verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found that the military and police operation Storm was not a joint criminal enterprise, but a legitimate military operation aimed at liberating occupied territories and restoring sovereignty over them.

The system of judicial cooperation must be based on the principle of mutual trust, i.e. the confidence of one state that the legal order of another state is of sufficient quality to ensure impartial, equitable and effective criminal proceedings in that state, and not to distort the principles of universal jurisdiction by introducing a quasi-universal jurisdiction.

Croatia therefore expects Serbia to respect international standards and to demonstrate a genuine will to resolve outstanding issues within the framework of interstate commissions.

The Government of the Republic of Croatia will use all the mechanisms at its disposal to protect Croatian pilots and the dignity of the Croatian War of Independence. In all its decisions, the Government of the Republic of Croatia will take into account state interests and best interests of persons against whom the Serbian side, contrary to international law and customs, is initiating criminal proceedings.
 

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