After being handed the ICTY indictment, former Premier of the Croatian Republic of Herceg Bosna Jadranko Prlić was taken voluntarily to the Hague prison on Monday 5 April. During his final 48 hours as a free man, he took the opportunity to address the public, perhaps for the last time, agreeing to give Nacional an exclusive interview in order to explain his position on the indictment and the trial process to be lead against him in the Hague.

NACIONAL: How did you react to the contents of the indictment?

When I read the indictment, I was astonished at all the things written there about me. After a second read, I realized that the indictment was written over a long time, and was very serious. I have heard various reactions in the public, but it seems to me these reactions have not taken the full content of the indictment into account. I am prepared to face all the points within the indictment, however, with regards to myself and to the work of the government that I led, I believe that all the points in the indictment are no less than absurd.

NACIONAL: Had you thought earlier that there was a possibility that you would receive an indictment from the Hague Tribunal?

Since the completion of the Croat-Bosnian conflict, there were so many speculations over the past year regarding just that issue. During the time I was Deputy Premier of BiH, Defense Minister and Foreign Minister for over five years, I never paid those rumours much attention, believing that they could not be put into that context. Not only did I condemn, but on many occasions I openly, together with my government, and in all other ways, tried and sought that crimes be prevented and punished, and that nothing was permitted which could potentially cast a shadow on the character of our battle. I can only repeat what I stated at the first celebration of Bayram in Mostar: that as a man and as a Croat, I could only apologize for the acts that certain Croats inflicted upon certain Bosnians. However, I believe that justice has not been done by accusing me, and the wrong man has been accused. That is, my goals were completely different from those suggested by the text in the indictment. It was for that goal that I became involved in August 1992 in the first place. I was the first person to openly say in 1990 that BiH could not be an independent country. Later, at the beginning of the war, I claimed that we needed to build symmetrical relations, both with Serbia and with Croatia.

NACIONAL: Did you ever issue a command or make decisions related to combat operations?

No. I could not give commands as I was at the head of a collective organ, which was called an interim organ of executive government, and that organ had no military authority.

NACIONAL: Who then was against a unified BiH?

During 1990, I did not ever hear that anyone was thinking about or talking about dividing Bosnia, and there were no talks about the breakdown of Yugoslavia. However, events that later unfolded showed that there were such ideas. Both the Muslims and Croats were in favour of an independent Bosnia, while the Serbs were against, though that difference in opinion was not existent while I was Premier. I believe that the process in BiH could have taken place in a way for the country to be acceptable to all its citizens and all its peoples, however, the circumstances were changes because of all that we know and don’t know. What I want to say is that the creation of the system of Herceg Bosna, which I participated in from the very beginning, was a concrete process against the separatist aspirations of one part of the Croats, which I am prepared to prove.

NACIONAL: What was your position on the Hague Tribunal?

The government of Herceg Bosna was among the first to support the idea of the establishment of a Tribunal in 1993, which we repeated on several occasions later. I hold the Tribunal to be a legitimate, legal and necessary institution which serves to take steps towards strengthening stability and establishing a feeling of justice, without which there can be no reconciliation in the region. I am convinced that the Tribunal will acquit me of the charges against me. The Tribunal is too serious an institution and in the end, it has to make decisions which will establish the real truth.

NACIONAL: However, that same Tribunal has raised an indictment against you that you do not agree with.

The indictment is biased and overambitious. It strives to interpret my responsibility, which opens the possibility that the true perpetrators will never be punished, through efforts that the Tribunal should deal exclusively with the people who formally held the highest positions, regardless of their true level of responsibility. To be perfectly clear: I believe that both the Croatian government and the BiH government, regardless of their varying standpoints, need to make efforts for the real truth to come out, which will serve as the foundation to learn from our recent history.

NACIONAL: The section of the indictment against you dealing with the alleged criminal operations outlines a new view of collective guilt and responsibility.

I don’t even want to talk about the category of collective guilt. Crimes were committed by individuals, and not be peoples or by groups. There can only be individual responsibility. It is clear that there are many people who are no longer with us, and as such they cannot be tried. With regards to my indictment, it is really difficult to say anything about that. Every sentence has its specific weight, but I will have time to prepare my defense and to explain my position on individual sections of the indictment. Regarding claims of criminal operations, obviously they want to use this indictment to create a precedent in international law which could then be used for future cases. However, the indictment is very serious and cannot be simply cast aside, as we’ve heard in the media in recent days. I was very surprised by such a global establishment of responsibility, which could be spread over tens of thousands of people. The blame has got to be individualized. In that context, I do not see, not in a single point, where I could be held responsible, for I had absolutely nothing to do with a single crime.

NACIONAL: How are you planning your defense in the Hague?

I don’t know how the entire procedure looks, as I have still not been acquainted with the way things work. I am entering into a courthouse and a prison for the first time in my life. I believe that the prosecutor will have to provide some factual evidence, and will then prepare my defense on the basis of that. I agreed to give an interview for your magazine, as I want to keep this indictment from being manipulated and politicized as needed on a daily political basis. Those claims need to be refuted from the start. Furthermore, I believe that my work was among the most concrete contributions made to building BiH on the principle of equality of its peoples, as well as making Croatia’s statehood possible.

NACIONAL: What was the role of the Croatian community and the Croatian Republic of Herceg Bosna in the period covered by the indictment?

I cannot talk about the first ideas, as I only became involved later, but I can tell you how I understood them, what I personally did and what was done at the government sessions I chaired. No one ever opened the possibility that we should do something not permitted by international law. Never at the government sessions or at any other gathering was there any talk of seceding. All we did was try to organize a normal life. The first foreign boundary of BiH was established by Herceg Bosna. We wanted to create peace through a modern and economic and political system, which the international community is now applying throughout BiH through some of its solutions.

NACIONAL: What do you think today of the Croat-Bosnian conflict?

It was an unfortunate conflict of victims. For me, it was a conflict in which there remained many grey areas. I don’t know enough about those things to speak of them. Had the Croats wanted a war with the Bosnians, that war would have begun much earlier, in 1992, when the Croats were absolutely stronger. Yesterday I spoke with the other indictees, and I told them ‘I cannot say a single incriminating thing about any one of you, because I don’t know of anything incriminating.’

NACIONAL: Did you know of the existence of prisoner centres such as the Heliodrom and Dretelj?

The government of Herceg Bosna never made any decisions either to open or close any prisoner centres, nor did it ever have the formal possibilities to make such decision. The decree concerning those centres clearly showed the planned responsibility. When I learned those centres existed, we took all the measures we could. I intervened with all those people who could influence the events there, which I would prefer not to discuss in more detail here.

NACIONAL: What happened when you went to President Tudjman and to Mate Granić?

On Granić’s initiative, a team arrived from Zagreb which helped in getting things resolved and to ensure that those things would not happen again.

NACIONAL: How do you comment on the charges of ethnic cleansing?

The government did all it could at the time. We passed a decision banning the transferal of property, and changes in residence and addresses were not permitted in order to prevent migration from being legalized. These examples proved that the civil organs of government what was possible. Someone will likely think that more was possible.

NACIONAL: Will you ask to be released until the beginning of your trial?

Yes. I will request that the governments in Zagreb and Sarajevo give their guarantees to the Tribunal that I be released until the beginning of my trial, which will give me the opportunity to prepare properly for my defense. This indictment was certainly prepared over several years, and I will have a lot of work to do in preparing my defense.

NACIONAL: What if the prosecution contests your request to be released, referring to examples of other indicted men who are not cooperating with the Tribunal?

I do not wish to compare myself to others. I believe that all the necessary elements are present to permit me to be released until the trial begins. I am going to the Hague as an honorable man, who has always been ready and willing to take responsibility. I guarantee for myself and both governments will guarantee for me. I will say, ‘You indicted me and I came.’ I believe there is no reason for me to be detained until the trial.

NACIONAL: Do you fear the Court may not be so understanding?

Regardless of the fact that the Hague Tribunal was established by political will, it is a legal institution. The people sitting in the Court have their reputations and honour, and I do not think that any of them will allow that to be questioned due to politicization. We cannot make our judgments of the Court based solely on the indictment. The indictment is one aspect and it is an attempt by the prosecution to prove something, however, the balance between the prosecution and defense actually creates the possibility for the Court to make the appropriate decision. I believe that the Court will be objective and just.

NACIONAL: What kind of assistance are you expecting in the period before you?

My attorneys and I require only access to the documentation and to talk to the people who will help truly reconstruct the events. I am thankful to the government for its support to date which, I hope, will continue. I am aware of the fact that the final verdict of the Court will also in part rely on the global assessment of the character of the war. I believe that the Court will put the prosecution and the defense in an equal position. I am convinced that I will prove that the majority of the establishment in Croatia was in support of a unified BiH and that the system of Herceg Bosna that I built was the fairest approach in creating a possible joint state.

NACIONAL: What if the Court offers you a deal?

I cannot say that this person or that committed a certain crime, but I can talk only of the context in which something occurred. The situation is much more serious. If I am guilty, then they can punish me, and if I am not, then they will let me go. I will not accept any compromises.

NACIONAL: This may perhaps be your last chance to directly address the public. What do you have to say?

I would like to say, to the citizens of Croatia and BiH, as well as in the region as a while, that they can trust me and always believe that I will not let them down. We need to fight against collective responsibility, as this trial will be part of creating the largest part of history of this region, which is why we are taking this very seriously. In that sense, I would invite everyone to face the past we have, to be proud of it for the most part, but also to condemn what was criminal, so that our children will not have to be ashamed and bear the burden of collective guilt. If I have to pay the price of proving that with this trial, then I am prepared to go all the way to have the truth come out. I want to offer the families of the victims truth and to show them justice. We cannot permit our children to one day have someone tell them they live in a country which grew out of crimes. That simply is not true.