"There has never been, not even in the darkest communist times, such persecution and slandering as the campaign that has been conducted against me in recent weeks as though I have already been convicted," Glavas said.
The former member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), who the media say could be the main suspect in the 1991 killings of Serb civilians in Osijek, said that Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic was receiving instructions from Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. "Bajic is not interested in who committed the said killings, he wants to know who ordered them, like (Zarko) Puhovski from the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO), who is looking for witnesses and documents that would incriminate me. I want to tell them that they won't find them because Branimir Glavas did not order crimes," Glavas said.
He read out to reporters what he said was a copy of an original police document from 1994 containing data on civilians killed in 1991 and 1992, and several civilians killed in 1993, with details on their disappearance and circumstances of their killing. Glavas said the document also contained the names of the people suspected of the killings, but he would not reveal their identity, stating only that neither he nor any of his close associates were among the suspects.
Glavas read out the names of 40 civilians, most of whom were Serbs and most of whom were killed in Osijek. Only several civilians were killed in villages around Osijek.
Glavas urged launching an investigation into the murder of all victims, who he said also included Croats.
Asked where he obtained the document, Glavas said "maybe I got it from you reporters, you have everything".
According to the media, investigative proceedings regarding the 1991 killings of civilians in Osijek have been transferred from Osijek to Zagreb.