VZCZCXRO3828
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHVB #0726/01 3451516
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 111516Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9727
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000726 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, S/WCI 
THE HAGUE FOR OLC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KAWC ICTY HR
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON POLICE RAIDS IN SEARCH OF ARTILLERY LOGS 
FOR ICTY 
 
REF: ZAGREB 724 
 
Classified By: Chris Zimmer, Political Officer, for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
 (d). 
 
¶1. (C/NF) SUMMARY:  Initial review of the more than 10,000 
pages of documents seized in police raids on December 9 shows 
none of the documents are among the 23 sought by the Office 
of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal 
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).  General 
Gotovina's defense team is protesting the raids, claiming 
they violate Gotovina's right to a fair trial and are being 
directed by the OTP in order to gain access to defense plans. 
 ICTY's Zagreb representative believes the raids are a 
serious new effort to find the documents.  He also claimed 
that Brammertz may be more willing than in the past to accept 
a credible investigation, even if the documents cannot be 
found.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) Croatian Police have announced that they have seized 
more than 10,000 pages of documents in the December 9 raids 
coordinated by the GoC's interagency Task Force searching for 
artillery documents sought by the OTP (reftel).  Some of the 
documents seized are classified as "state secret" or 
"military secret," including 15 maps.  In the search of more 
than 20 homes, apartments, and vehicles, police also 
discovered explosives and weapons and seized several 
computers.  Twenty five people were questioned, including 
Marin Ivanovic, an employee of Gotovina's defense team. 
Police sources (protect) have told us that the initial review 
of the documents did not discover any which would respond to 
the OTP's list of 23 key artillery documents, but that an 
in-depth review is continuing.  Our source also said that 
they are waiting for a court order before searching the 
computers they seized from Ivanovic. 
 
¶3. (C) Gotovina's defense team, led by Luka Misetic and Greg 
Kehoe, protested the latest raids to the ICTY Trial Chamber, 
which has scheduled a hearing for December 11 to review the 
effect of the GoC's actions on the defense.  ICTY's Zagreb 
representative, Thomas Osorio, told us that the central 
allegation is that OTP Prosecutor Brammertz instructed the 
GoC to raid defense offices (Ivanovic's office and home) in 
an effort to steal their confidential documents and 
strategies.  According to press reports, Misetic claimed that 
Croatian State Prosecutor Bajic has admitted that Brammertz 
pressured him in a November 9 meeting to raid the defense's 
offices.  Bajic's office has publicly denied Misetic's 
claims, noting that no meeting of senior officials was even 
held on November 9.  Osorio described the defense's 
allegations as "slanderous." Osorio was confident that Judge 
Orie will not find any problem with the searches, since the 
GoC clearly has the legal grounds to conduct searches of 
Ivanovic's property. (NOTE: In a July 23, 2009, decision Orie 
denied the defense's earlier request for a restraining order 
against Croatia's prosecution of Ivanovic on the grounds that 
defense did not demonstrate that the GoC's domestic case 
against Ivanovic for stealing and destroying state archive 
materials interfered with Gotovina's right to a fair trial. 
As a staff member of the defense, rather than accredited 
counsel, it is unclear what protections or immunities 
Ivanovic enjoys. END NOTE.) 
 
¶4. (C) Gordan Markotic, Director for International 
Cooperation at the Ministry of Justice told us that the 
defense's arguments against the raid are based on "gossip" 
and the accusation that Brammertz instructed Bajic to perform 
the raids was "ridiculous."  Both Markotic and Osorio said 
that the defense is very nervous because Ivanovic was a 
member of their team and the potential exists that the 
documents seized from his office and home could implicate the 
defense team in concealing documents from the court. 
 
¶5. (C/NF) Osorio said that, in his personal opinion, the 
raids were a "real" and "serious" effort to find more 
evidence for the OTP, but that his office was still seeking 
more information about what was discovered.  Osorio said that 
he has been urging Markotic to provide daily updates on news 
and activities of the task force.  Osorio claimed that in 
recent weeks Brammertz had become somewhat less adamant that 
the only acceptable result would be for Croatia to deliver 
the 23 documents.  Osorio said that, when briefing EU FMs in 
Brussels on December 7, Brammertz had indicated he could also 
be satisfied by a credible investigation. 
 
¶6. (C/NF) COMMENT: Any shift by Brammertz toward accepting 
that a credible investigation might not be able to locate the 
documents would be significant.  It will, therefore, be very 
telling how Brammertz reacts to the latest developments.  An 
 
ZAGREB 00000726  002 OF 002 
 
 
early opportunity to gauge his response will be the Trial 
Chamber's December 16 hearing on whether Croatia is 
adequately responding to the Court's order of September 2008 
regarding the artillery documents.  END COMMENT. 
FOLEY