Minister quits over hunt furore
29/12/2007 21:07 - (SA)



Zagreb - Croatia's interior minister resigned on Saturday after being pictured on a wild boar hunt with a suspected war criminal who was subsequently arrested for breaking his parole.

Several newspapers had published pictures this week of Mladen Markac - a 52-year-old former commander of the Croatian police special forces who is awaiting trial for war crimes - enjoying the hunt in northeastern Croatia.

Markac, who was standing with a group of hunters in the photos, was accompanied by Croatian Interior Minister Ivica Kirin who resigned on Saturday and apologised for his actions.

Kirin's presence had sparked greater outrage since the Interior Ministry is responsible for ensuring that Markac does not violate the terms of his provisional release.

"I consider it a moral act and my duty due to circumstances in which I was involved regarding the case of general Markac. I regret and offer my apology to all those that might have been harmed by it," Kirin said in a statement.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) asked the Croatian government to immediately arrest Markac before handing him over on Sunday to a UN detention unit in the Netherlands.

"There were no problems during the arrest" of Markac at his home in Zagreb, police spokesperson Krunoslav Borovec told journalists.

A statement issued by the ICTY in the Hague confirmed the tribunal had sought Markac's arrest as he had violated his parole by leaving his residence in Zagreb without permission.

"The judge requested the arrest due to the accused having violated the conditions of his provisional release by leaving his designated residence without due permission," the statement said.

The tribunal also noted that Croatia had failed to inform it of Markac's breach of parole conditions, as it was required to do.

Markac has been charged with war crimes by The Hague-based UN tribunal along with two other former generals - Ivan Cermak and Ante Gotovina - in connection with an August 1995 operation.

More than 150 Serb civilians were killed during the operation targeting a key area held by Serb rebels, according to the indictment.

The operation practically ended Croatia's 1991-1995 war of independence during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

Markac surrendered to the ICTY in 2004. He was freed the same year to await trial.

Following November polls a new government is expected to take up its duties in Croatia by mid-January.



News24

I remember with shame how the EU embargoed Croatia and other nations which had been attacked by Serbia's Milosevic. They were not even allowed to purchase old military trucks and clothes, not to mention any more sophisticated armament.

It took once more, I am even more embarrased to admit, a US intervention to put to Croats into the position to repell the Serbian agression by themselves. Especially the Southern EU members had never liked Germany's immediate recognition of Croatia's and Slovenia's independance. Thus, they decided to let them pay dearly.

it's just the versailles diktat all over again.

The whole balkan situation is a mess, just shows you how little has changed since Adolf H. in regards to human rights and tolerance. For the EU to even consider such a "gangster nation" as Serbia to become a member of the EU is very worrying.

Our current Secretary of State Carl Bildt was quite successful down there as a mediator but I rember the comments about him when he was appointed "that he didn't look macho enough, they will never respect him". Quite an indicator of what carries weight down there...