LJUBLJANA, Sept 4 (Hina) - The Committee on the Protection of Slovene Citizens before a Foreign State, an ad hoc body set up a few days ago in Ljubljana in the wake of the "Joras case", on Wednesday expressed solidarity with the
imprisoned Slovene resident of the Croatian village of Mlini who does not recognise Croatian sovereignty.
LJUBLJANA, Sept 4 (Hina) - The Committee on the Protection of
Slovene Citizens before a Foreign State, an ad hoc body set up a few
days ago in Ljubljana in the wake of the "Joras case", on Wednesday
expressed solidarity with the imprisoned Slovene resident of the
Croatian village of Mlini who does not recognise Croatian
sovereignty. #L#
The committee refuted claims which appeared in the Croatian media
to the effect that its members had tried to prepare a "truth rally"
in Joras's house last Saturday, similar in spirit to actions Serb
academicians had staged before former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic came to power.
"Our activity does not have elements which characterised the Serb
academicians. In Mlini we only wanted to have a meeting of artists,"
two committee members, poets Dane Zajc and Niko Grafenauer, told
reporters.
"The comparison is not appropriate. We did not make memorandum
gestures typical of the Serb academicians, and we are not rabble-
rousers," Grafenauer claimed.
The committee sent a public protest note to Croatia because they
were not allowed to reach Mlini. Members were "unjustly
incriminated" by Croatia's border police, and ask, "Are some
Slovenes persona non grata in Croatia?".
The Committee includes many writers and intellectuals gathered
around "Nova revija", a magazine whose collaborators also include
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel.
(hina) ha sb