PULA, March 8 (Hina) - An incident occurred during the presentation of a book by Libra Party leader Ivo Banac at the Armed Forces Hall in Pula on Saturday, when an employee at the hall accused Banac of having organised a political
meeting rather than a cultural event, which was what the hall had made its offices available for.
PULA, March 8 (Hina) - An incident occurred during the presentation
of a book by Libra Party leader Ivo Banac at the Armed Forces Hall in
Pula on Saturday, when an employee at the hall accused Banac of
having organised a political meeting rather than a cultural event,
which was what the hall had made its offices available for. #L#
After these statements, Banac's publisher Nenad Popovic
discontinued the presentation of the book "Modern Croatian Anti-
Politics" ten minutes before it was due to end.
Commenting on the incident, Banac said that a state institution
such as the Armed Forces Hall could not insist on strict division
between politics and culture. Banac said that politics and culture
in his work were inseparable and added that he would talk with his
coalition partner - the Social Liberal Party - whose member Zeljka
Antunovic is Defence Minister.
The incident opens many issues regarding freedom of speech, which
has become very topical following a recent explosion of a bomb
planted under the car of a well-known Croatian publisher, Banac
said.
Asked about the latest accusations of the chief prosecutor of the
U.N. war crimes tribunal that Croatia failed to cooperate, Banac
said Carla Del Ponte was not the only one to say that, the same
objection had been voiced by diplomatic representatives from the
European Union as well. Banac believes that Vice-Premier Goran
Granic's invitation for Del Ponte to visit Croatia is "a preventive
measure ahead of the arrival of new indictments". He believes there
are solid indications that new indictment will arrive in Croatia in
mid-April.
(hina) rml