CATHOLIC CLERGY IN SUBOTICA CONDEMN DESECRATION OF CEMETERY

SUBOTICA, March 29 (Hina) - The Catholic clergy in Subotica have condemned the desecration of a Catholic cemetery in this town in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina, saying that it was "a deliberate act of provocation" that happened as a result of the incompetence of the police to arrest the perpetrators of previous such acts.#L# The oldest Catholic cemetery in Subotica was desecrated on the night between Friday and Saturday, the second time in the last two months. Unidentified perpetrators knocked down or damaged over 90 wooden crosses and stone vases, three times more than the first time. "The sight was horrible," said the Reverend Andrija Anisic, in whose parish the cemetery is situated. The police have carried out an on-site investigation, but have issued no report yet. Another priest, Andrija Kopilovic, said that it was "a deliberate act of provocation by persons responsible for the act of vandalism committed exactly two months ago." "This is a dangerous game, a warning from someone," he added. A report on the devastation of the cemetery was broadcast without comment by Serbian television in its prime-time evening news programme "Dnevnik" on Saturday. (Hina) vm