“All crimes must be investigated, perpetrators brought to justice” / Platform 112

The president of the NGO Documenta, Vesna Terselic, said on Friday that all crimes must be investigated and perpetrators brought to justice, underlining that there should be no politicising when it comes to those issues.

“It isn’t important where the investigation will be held and where the trial will be held. The important thing is that suspects be investigated and judicial procedure followed,” Terselic told a news conference commenting on the law on judicial cooperation in criminal matters with EU members states under which extradition to EU member countries refers to indictees charged with crimes committed after August 2002. She said it was very irresponsible to change this law on the last work day before entering the European Union, given that the law was unanimously adopted 2010 under fast-track procedure.

“The European Arrest Warrant enables Croatia to prosecute war crimes suspects who are now unavailable to the judiciary. Talks are now just focused on which of the defendants would be protected by the time frame, while there is no mention that some of these accused people are in German, Spain, England and that this is an opportunity for victims and Croatian society to get closer to justice. This dimension has not even been heard or mentioned by Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic or anyone else,” Terselic said.

Platform 112