http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=07&dd=01&nav_category=113&nav_id=42147
Croatia might drop genocide lawsuit 1 July 2007 | 10:01 | Source: B92 *ZAGREB, BELGRADE -- President Boris Tadić’s apology <http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=06&dd=24&nav_category=92&nav_id=42003> to Croatian citizens triggered a debate regarding Croatia's genocide lawsuit against Serbia. * President of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights Žarko Puhovski said they were good chances that Croatia, after parliamentary elections due to take place this fall, would drop its genocide lawsuit against Serbia before the Hague-based International Court of Justice. Commenting on this statement, chief legal representative of Serbia in the ICJ Radoslav Stojanović said that Belgrade was ready to settle the matter out of court. In Puhovski’s opinion, Zagreb could easily prove Serbia’s involvement in the Croatian war, but the ICJ would not label war crimes committed at the time as genocide. Rumors in Croatia are rife that the decision on the lawsuit might depend on the outcome of the ongoing Hague trial of former Serbian State Security (DB) chief Jovica Stanišić. Stojanović repeated that to settle the case out of court was the best way of bringing about reconciliation in the region, stressing that “the return of almost warlike rhetoric in Croatian media aggravated the issue.” “The Croatian television is persistent in referring to Serbia as its aggressor. That must end, since we need to approach the matter seriously. Only the UN Security Council can decide what can be considered as aggression and all UN resolution regarding the 1990s war bear no mention of Serbia’s aggression or genocide,” he argued. “We have to stop with stirring up tension among people. Given the public opinion created on the basis of such rhetoric, Croatian government is not in a position to drop the lawsuit at present,” Stojanović explained. Serbia’s defense counsel in legal proceedings in the ICJ of the genocide lawsuit Bosnia brought against Serbia compiled a book containing speeches delivered by all legal representatives in the case and transcripts of defense witnesses’ testimonies. The book will also feature the complete text of the ruling <http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=02&dd=26&nav_category=92>. On February 26, the International Court of Justice exonerated Serbia of direct responsibility for genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. It also ruled that Serbia failed to use its influence with Bosnian Serbs to prevent the genocide of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica.
