The rally was organised by a committee comprised of representatives of all war veterans' associations from Split-Dalmatia County.
The rally will be addressed also by Split mayor Zvonimir Puljic and county prefect Ante Sanader in their capacities as local officials and not as politicians, committee representatives said.
The Split rally's goal is to show the whole world in a peaceful and dignified manner what veterans think of the indictment against Gotovina and the arrests of Gotovina and other Croatian generals, said Mirko Condic, president of the Headquarters for the Protection of Homeland War Values.
Condic and the leader of the Kastela branch of the Association of Disabled War Veterans HVIDRA, Zeljko Strize, once again called on all participants in the rally not to display any Nazi, fascist, communist or Ustasha insignia. "That can only harm veterans and Ante Gotovina," they said, adding that veterans from all over the country had confirmed their arrival.
Condic and Strize expect more people than at a Split 2001 rally supporting General Mirko Norac, also charged with war crimes. Security will be provided by police and 200 veterans. The police and the city of Split have given their consent for holding the rally.
The statements incumbent Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and other officials made at the Norac rally will be shown so that people can see what they were saying then and how they are behaving now, said Condic and Strize.
Gotovina was arrested in Spain on Wednesday. He was on the run since 2001, when the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague indicted him for war crimes committed in 1995.