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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000684 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON HR UK
SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT- NOVEMBER 20,2009 
 
ZAGREB 00000684  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY, WITH 12 
CANDIDATES: 
The State Electoral Commission (DIP) announced on November 
18, 2009 that 12 candidates had met all constitutional 
requirements, including submitting more than 10,000 valid 
signatures, to be included on the first round presidential 
ballot set for December 27, 2009.  The official campaign 
season began on November 19.  Candidates are (in alphabetical 
order): Milan Bandic (independent), Andrija Hebrang (HDZ), 
Ivo Josipovic (SDP), Josip Jurcevic (independent), Damir 
Kajin (IDS), Boris Miksic (independent), Dragan Primorac 
(independent), Vesna Pusic (HNS), Vesna Skare-Ozbolt 
(independent), Miroslav Tudjman (independent), Nadan 
Vidosevic (independent), and Slavko Vuksic (DSSR).  According 
to recent polls, only four to six candidates (Josipovic, 
Bandic, Vidosevic and Hebrang, along with perhaps Primorac 
and Pusic) have any serious chance of making the second round 
run-off on January 10.  Independent Croatian-Serb candidate 
Veljko Dzakula submitted the requisite number of signatures, 
but informed the DIP that he was withdrawing from the race 
just before DIP certified the final list.  Dzakula in his 
withdrawal statement simply indicated his candidacy was meant 
to demonstrate that Serbian citizens of Croatia could 
participate on equal footing in each and every electoral 
event. (DMEGES) 
 
¶2. (U) CROATIA TO HOLD SPECIAL MINORITY ELECTIONS: 
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its coalition 
partner, the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS), 
recently resolved an ambiguity between Croatia's 
Constitutional Law on National Minorities (CLMN) and Law on 
Local Elections.  As a result, the GoC in mid-November 
announced that special minority elections will be held on 
December 6, 2009, to elect a myriad of deputy county prefects 
and deputy mayors to ensure adequate minority representation 
in local governments, as required by the CLNM.  The SDSS has 
been pressing for these special elections since mid-2009, 
when a new process for direct election of mayors and county 
prefects effectively abolished the old system of county or 
city executive councils where minorities were often given a 
seat.  The SDSS pressed the HDZ to support the creation of 
additional "deputy" positions reserved for national 
minorities and filled via special elections.  It is expected 
that at least 11 counties and more than 40 cities will hold 
these special elections. (DMEGES) 
 
¶3. (SBU) SENTENCE OF UK WAR CRIME EXTRADITEE GREATLY REDUCED: 
On November 19, 2009, Milan Spanovic, a former Serbian 
para-military, was released from prison in Croatia when his 
sentence was reduced to time served.  Spanovic was extradited 
from the UK in August 2009, based on a 2004 Croatian arrest 
warrant.  The warrant stemmed from a 1993 verdict in which 
Spanovic and 18 co-defendants were convicted in absentia for 
committing war crimes against civilians and each sentenced to 
20 years of prison.  Crimes included: attacking a Croatian 
village, mistreating and injuring civilians, and stealing and 
destroying property. The 1993 verdict was based on one 
witness' live testimony and other written depositions that 
failed to specify the specific culpability of any individual 
defendant.  In February 2009, the Sisak County State Attorney 
had applied to re-open the case, arguing that recent 
interviews with witnesses could to lead to acquittals or 
milder punishments. While the Sisak County Court rejected 
that motion, on appeal the Croatian Supreme Court allowed for 
the reopening of all defendants' cases, including Spanovic's. 
 In the meantime, Spanovic had been extradited from the UK 
and detained in Sisak prison.  In reducing the sentence, the 
presiding judge, a reputed hard-liner, publicly condemned the 
1993 verdict for failing to establish personal responsibility 
for the crimes committed, and commented that it did not 
conform to today's legal practices and standards in Croatia. 
(COMMENT:  Spanovic's release is a positive step, but the 
fact that the conviction was not voided in its entirety -- 
presumably to avoid giving Spanovic grounds to sue for 
unlawful detention -- underlines that domestic courts' 
handling of war crimes cases is still not flawless.  END 
COMMENT.) 
 
¶4. (U) CRISIS TAX PASSES COURT CHALLENGE: 
On November 18, Croatia's Constitutional Court ruled on 
requests by President Mesic and over 80,000 individual 
citizens regarding the constitutionality of the "crisis tax" 
imposed by the government in August of this year.  Complaints 
focused on the idea that the tax did not share the burden 
evenly among citizens.  Out of 13 judges on the bench of the 
Constitutional court, however, only 2 felt the tax was 
unconstitutional.  Court president Jasna Omejec said the 
special tax law had been deemed constitutional, especially in 
light of the principles of a social welfare state, the rule 
of the law and tax equality.  Upon being asked if he 
considered this ruling a defeat, Mesic said he accepted the 
 
ZAGREB 00000684  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
ruling of the Constitutional Court and that "...it is proof 
that the country functions as a legal state." Prime Minister 
Kosor said no Prime Minister is happy to make such a 
decision, but the crisis tax was a necessity under the 
circumstances. 
FOLEY