VZCZCXRO2670
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHVB #0724 3441406
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 101406Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9725
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000724 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, S/WCI 
THE HAGUE FOR OLC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ICTY HR
SUBJECT: CROATIAN POLICE RAID HOMES OF FORMER MILITARY 
OFFICIALS IN SEARCH OF ARTILLERY LOGS FOR ICTY 
 
REF: ZAGREB 722 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Rick Holtzapple, PolEcon Counselor, for reasons 1.4 (b) 
& (d). 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  On December 9, Croatian police, coordinated 
by the GoC's inter-agency Task Force searching for missing 
artillery documents sought by the Office of the Prosecutor 
(OTP) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former 
Yugoslavia (ICTY), raided and searched a number of homes and 
buildings in Croatia, with counterparts searching sites in 
Bosnia-Herzegovina.  All of the buildings searched were 
connected with retired military or former Ministry of Defense 
officials, several of whom have ties to General Gotovina's 
defense lawyers at the ICTY.  The police are now looking 
through the documents collected to see whether they include 
any of those sought by the OTP.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) The raids began in early in the morning, and were 
completed by noon.  The police have not revealed publicly how 
many people were under investigation, but did say that dozens 
of sites were searched.  A police official on the Task Force 
told Post privately that they searched sites connected with 
ten individuals in Croatia, and one individual in 
Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Suspects in the investigation were also 
questioned by police during the course of the day on December 
¶10.  While no list of individuals has been released, 
according to the media, among those searched were four 
retired colonels, and retired general Rahim Ademi.  (NOTE: 
Ademi was indicted by the ICTY in a separate case, and tried 
and acquitted by a Croatian court after that case was 
transferred by the ICTY to Croatia. END NOTE.)  Police 
sources have told us that interviews were also held with 
Admiral Domazet Loso, a retired Chief of Defense, and the son 
of the late Jano Bobetko, another former CHOD. 
 
¶3. (C) Police sources added that a considerable number of 
documents were found, reportedly including some maps.  The 
Task Force is now going through the documents to see what 
they have found, and whether any of them are connected to the 
list of documents being sought by the OTP.  Our source told 
us that they hope to have a clear picture of what they have 
found by December 11. 
 
¶4. (C) Our Police source also told us that, based on the 
information collected so far, a particular focus will be on 
Marin Ivanovic, a former MoD official who is now part of 
Gotovina's defense team.  Further searches of his home, 
office and vehicle are scheduled for December 10.  Ivanovic 
is already on trial for stealing or destroying documents 
related to Gotovina's case, based on information gathered 
earlier in the GoC's investigations.  According to press 
reports, one of Gotovina's lead lawyers, Luka Misetic, has 
protested the Croatian police action and claimed it amounts 
to "harassment" of the legal team.  Misetic also threatened 
that, unless the ICTY invokes sanctions against Croatia for 
its actions, the defense team will go on "strike" and begin 
to boycott trial proceedings. 
 
¶5. (C) PM Kosor's foreign policy advisor, Davor Stier, called 
the Ambassador on December 9 to inform us that the operation 
was on-going.  He noted that the GoC was concerned that there 
could be a backlash from veterans' groups, given that the 
individuals whose homes were searched are veterans. 
Therefore, the government made sure the police released 
general information about the searches, in order to shape the 
story as it hit the media. 
 
¶6. (C) COMMENT:  It would appear that the Task Force has been 
able to develop leads, thanks to more aggressive and 
intrusive methods such as active surveillance and wire taps. 
Some columnists, as well as Ademi himself, have speculated 
that the raids are mainly designed to impress ICTY Prosecutor 
Brammertz with the seriousness of the GoC's efforts, and that 
there is little hope of finding more documents.  Nonetheless, 
these actions are necessary to help establish definitively 
what happened to the missing documents, and who was 
responsible for their disappearance, whether or not any can 
still actually be recovered.  END COMMENT. 
FOLEY