Proof positive that U.N. dangerous to freedom

Maybe -- just maybe -- what is happening to a group of Croatian journalists will awaken an American MSM from its longtime puppy love over the United Nations.

A case involving a number of Croatian journalists charged by the tribunal with contempt of court is baffling the media in Croatia and has thrown up questions about the publication of confidential information.

The charges against three journalists and the publisher of a newspaper in Croatia concern the identity of a protected witness who testified in the case of Tihomir Blaskic a senior Croatian general at The Hague seven years ago.

While the identity of the protected witness is an open secret in Zagreb and beyond, his name and his testimony remain officially secret under a number of orders from the tribunal banning publication of his details. The prosecution have gone as far as to describe him in official documentation as a high-ranking politician who holds important state responsibilities.

It's not secret anymore, argued Vesna Alaburic, a Zagreb lawyer specialising in media law issues, in an interview with IWPR. Once the public found out the identity of the witness, there is no interest for the court in protecting the witness.

That's the common sense general standard that has ruled most of the so-called "free" nations, but it's too common sense for the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal.

... the prosecutor at The Hague is continuing to pursue the case, even to the extent of issuing an arrest warrant against one of the journalists who failed to appear at a hearing this week.

Josip Jovic the former editor-in-chief of Slobodna Dalmacija, one of the accused, failed to appear in The Hague, at what was expected to be his initial appearance. Instead, the judge at the hearing Alphons Orie quoted from a memo he had provided, in which he stated that he believed the tribunal had no jurisdiction over him and he considers it his right to first under Croatian law use all legal means at his disposal to see if there is any reason for him to cooperate with the tribunal.

Later the same week an arrest warrant was issued against the journalist.

According to reports in the Croatian media, residents of Split - Jovic's home town - have started a petition to back him, with the support of the local journalists' association. It is thought that Jovic will use Croatian legal mechanisms to fight the arrest warrant, going all the way to the constitutional court.
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The contempt charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison or a 100,000 euro fine.

How much sovereignity do we really want to cede to the U.N. bureaucrats?

A THOUGHT -- There seems to be an odd parallel to this case and that of the investigation into the Valerie Plame leak. Plame's identity and former role as a CIA operative were actually public record before Bob Novak wrote his now infamous column. In fact, Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, had already disclosed the facts about her himself. If there are indictments as a result of the investigation, it seems likely that the issue of "when is a secret no longer a secret" will debated right here in the United States federal courts.