Earlier in the day, a Zagreb court found Glavas guilty of war crimes committed against Serb civilians in the eastern city of Osijek in 1991 and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Glavas did not attend the sentencing hearing.
After the court hearing, Sisljagic distributed to reporters Glavas's statement in writing and recorded on CDs, and branded the ruling as "the twilight of the rule of law" and "an insult to all Croatian Homeland War veterans".
Sisljagic said the court ruling was a result of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's statement of 22 April 2005 that "Glavas no longer exists", but stressed that the verdict would not eliminate Glavas and the HDSSB from the political scene.
Glavas was an influential member of the Sanader's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) until the spring 2005 when he was ousted from the HDZ. On 21 April 2005 the HDZ National Council unanimously decided to oust Glavas, Sisljagic and Ivan Drmic for acting contrary to the party's programme.
After that Glavas and Sislajgic set up the HDSSB political party.
Sisljagic claimed today that sources from Sanader's closest aides told them earlier this week that the PM Sanader insisted from the court to proclaim Glavas guilty and sentence him to prison.
Former Interior Minister Ivan Vekic, who is a leader of war veterans in Osijek, said today that veterans would possibly organise protests and other forms of civil disobedience being outraged by the the guilty verdict against Glavas and another five defendants in the trial for war crimes against Serbs in Osijek in 1991.