The parliament decided at the time, among other things, that Croatia no longer considered any Yugoslav federal body legitimate or lawful and that it no longer considered as valid the laws of any body representing the former federation. It decided that Yugoslavia, as a state union, no longer existed.
The Sabor also adopted conclusions saying that Serbia and the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) had carried out an act of aggression against Croatia and declared the JNA an occupying army.
The day before, on October 7, a three-month moratorium expired on the parliament's decision of June 25, 1991 to declare independence and sovereignty.
The implementation of the parliament's decision was postponed for three months with the Brijuni Declaration of July 7, which was passed at the request of the European Community.
After the expiry of the moratorium, all three parliamentary councils held a session on October 8
and adopted a decision to sever Croatia's constitutional ties with the former federation.
The session was held in secret in the basement of a Croatian oil company INA building in downtown Zagreb due to the threat of an attack by the JNA and Serb terrorists. The day before, a JNA jet
bombarded the building housing the offices of the then Croatian president Franjo Tudjman.
During the three-month moratorium, which the EC requested hoping for a peaceful resolution of the Yugoslav crisis, the JNA and Serb terrorists stepped up attacks on Croatian towns and villages, wantonly destroying hospitals, schools, churches, cultural monuments and other civilian facilities.
Independence Day was introduced as a national holiday in 2001 through amendments to the Holidays and Memorial Days Act, and it was marked for the first time in 2002.