ZAGREB, Sept 9 (Hina) - The publishing of a list of disabled war veterans in Osijek-Baranja County and data on their disability in a local paper is the violation of their human and constitutional rights, senior officials of the
opposition Croatian Social Liberals (HSLS) said at a news conference on Monday.
ZAGREB, Sept 9 (Hina) - The publishing of a list of disabled war
veterans in Osijek-Baranja County and data on their disability in a
local paper is the violation of their human and constitutional
rights, senior officials of the opposition Croatian Social
Liberals (HSLS) said at a news conference on Monday. #L#
The party's secretary-general, Dorica Nikolic, asserted that
individuals were not protected and that the rule of law was not
functioning in the country.
She announced that her party would ask the parliament to set up a
commission of enquiry to probe the Osijek case as well as the
publishing of a list of disabled war veterans in Zadar a few months
ago.
Around 100 members of the Osijek-Baranja County branch of the HVIDR
(war veterans' association) on Friday night prevented the
distribution of Saturday's issue of the paper "Osjecki Dom",
dissatisfied with the publishing of the list with the names of over
3,300 disabled war veterans from the county and data on their
disability. The disabled war veterans had been gathering in front
of the paper's printing house since then to prevent what they
described as manipulation with their names and disability data.
The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) president, Dragutin
Lucic, on Sunday agreed with the leader of the HVIDR Osijek branch
that HVIDR members lift the blockade around the local printing
house in Osijek and allow the distribution of the paper.
A local paper from Zadar in April this year ran a list of disabled
war veterans without problems.
Nikolic said the data used in the local Zadar paper had been
obtained from the Croatian ministry of war veterans, and she
therefore insisted that War Veterans' Minister Ivica Pancic should
be held responsible for it.
The HSLS war veterans committee's head, Herman Vukusic, said the
secrecy of such data was stipulated by the Constitution and the law
on the registry of invalids, and described the claims that the
public had the right to know about the lists as petty-politicking.
For Vukusic it is tragic that reactions ensued only after the
disabled veterans, in their bid to protect their dignity, prevented
the distribution of the Osijek paper.
Asked to comment on the fact that HVIDR members in the southern town
of Sinj welcome the publishing of lists of disabled war veterans in
that area, Vukusic answered that he believed they agreed on it due
to their ignorance or lack of information.
HSLS welcomed the decision of the Osijek HVIDR members to lift the
blockade around the printing house in Osijek on Monday morning.
According to the news broadcast of Croatian television at noon
Monday, the protesters de-blocked the entrance to the printer
earlier in the morning, in compliance with Sunday's agreement.
(hina) ms