VZCZCXRO3444
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVB #1352/01 3121452
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 081452Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6899
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 001352 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR DICARLO; EUR/SCE HOH, BALIAN; 
S/WCI WILLIAMSON, LAVINE; L/EUR JOHNSON; INR MORIN 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO NSC BRAUN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KAWC HR WAR CRIMES
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONALS SEE GLAVAS AS JUDICIAL TEST CASE 
 
REF: ZAGREB 1285 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Tom Selinger for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
. 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Observers in the international 
community are calling the war crimes investigation against MP 
Branimir Glavas (reftels) a test case of the maturity of the 
Croatian judiciary that will serve as an indicator of 
readiness for Euro-Atlantic integration.  Glavas, now the 
subject of three separate investigations into the torture and 
murder of Serb civilians in Osijek in 1991-92, voluntarily 
entered detention in Zagreb on October 26 but immediately 
went on a hunger strike to protest what he says are 
politically rigged proceedings against him.  Many of the 
initial court decisions regarding detention and jurisdiction 
have received both political and media criticism.  However, 
the Croatian judiciary appears to be wrestling with 
legitimate legal questions and witness protection issues 
arising from the first prosecution of a sitting 
parliamentarian in a young democracy.  Glavas is clearly 
trying to exploit any weaknesses that remain in the 
judiciary, using his hunger strike to portray himself as a 
victim in an attempt to generate public sympathy and pressure 
the court.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
ALL THE ELEMENTS TO DEMONSTRATE JUDICIAL MATURITY 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (C) According to Thomas Osorio, Zagreb head of mission for 
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 
(ICTY), both his organization and many EU-member embassies 
are looking at the Glavas investigation for signs that 
Croatia has made progress in judicial reform.  From the ITCY 
perspective, Osorio told PolOff October 31, the case has "all 
the elements needed for the Croatian judiciary to demonstrate 
its readiness to conduct cases transferred from The Hague: 
witness protection, impartiality of the court, and integrity 
of the judicial process." 
 
¶3. (C) Based on his conversations with European diplomats, he 
predicted the Glavas case will loom large in EU assessments 
in the justice and home affairs sector.  A European 
Commission progress report on Croatia approved November 8 
cited the Glavas case as an example of increased willingness 
to prosecute Croats for war crimes but pointed to witness 
protection challenges. 
 
POLICE CHIEF: TENSION IN OSIJEK 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Osijek Chief of Police Vladimir Faber told PolOff 
October 26 that the evidence he has seen against Glavas 
should put him behind bars for 20 years, the maximum sentence 
under Croatian law at the time of the crimes.  He had no 
doubt, however, that Glavas and his supporters will make it 
as difficult as possible for the court to convict him, 
particularly the Osijek Court where Glavas can exert the most 
public pressure.  According to Faber, they have already 
placed posters around Osijek accusing (in verse) the Chief of 
Police of being a communist.  Many of Faber's friends in town 
now hesitate to speak to him on the street for fear of being 
accused of providing information to investigators. 
 
¶5. (C) Based on the brutality of the network Glavas is 
accused of running during the war, Faber understands why 
residents might be afraid.  He described the now famous 
"Cello-tape" operation, the second investigation involving 
Glavas, as something from a Hollywood movie.  Glavas sent 
sealed orders via his secretary to covert units, each unknown 
to the other -- one unit to apprehend an individual and the 
second to carry out the execution.  Reluctant triggermen were 
threatened with execution themselves if they failed to carry 
out their duties.  When the secretary told her boss she 
wanted out, Glavas reportedly beat and raped her. 
 
JURSIDICTION BECOMES STICKY ISSUE 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Miroslav Rozac, Deputy President and spokesperson of 
the Osijek County Court, told PolOff November 3 that the 
Glavas case has raised complicated jurisdictional issues that 
may eventually require a Supreme Court ruling.  The Supreme 
Court already moved the initial investigation against Glavas, 
now known as the "Garage" case, from Osijek to the Zagreb 
County Court to avoid witness intimidation.  But when the 
Zagreb court was slow to grant Chief State Prosecutor Mladen 
Bajic's request for Glavas' detention, Bajic treated the 
"cello-tape" operation as a completely separate crime and 
 
ZAGREB 00001352  002 OF 002 
 
 
decided to try his luck in Osijek. 
 
¶7. (C) While an investigative judge there ordered detention 
for six others accused in "Cello-tape," he ruled that Osijek 
had no jurisdiction over Glavas -- the case must go to 
Zagreb.  According to Rozac, the judge based his decision on 
a provision in the law on criminal procedure that all like 
crimes committed by an individual should be tried in one 
case.  An initial appeal by the prosecutor was accepted by 
the Osijek County Court, so the investigative judge will 
reconsider, but Osijek may well request that Zagreb join 
"Cello-tape" with "Garage."  If Zagreb refuses, the Supreme 
Court will decide.  This will likely also determine the venue 
for a third case, known as "Red Barracks," which is still in 
the early stages of investigation. 
BRADTKE