ZAGREB, Sept 23 (Hina) - A Committee for Promoting the Truth About the Homeland War was established on Monday. Academician Ivo Padovan, the president of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, was elected its chairman.
ZAGREB, Sept 23 (Hina) - A Committee for Promoting the Truth About
the Homeland War was established on Monday. Academician Ivo
Padovan, the president of the Croatian Academy of Arts and
Sciences, was elected its chairman. #L#
The meeting at which the committee was established was attended by
leaders of Croatia's opposition parties -- the Croatian Social
Liberal Party (HSLS), the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the
Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU), the Croatian Party of
Rights (HSP), the Croatian True Revival (HIP), the Croatian Bloc
(HB) and the Democratic Centre (DC), with only the Liberal Party
from the ruling coalition.
The meeting was also attended by the presidents of the central
veterans' association, the Croatian military invalids
association, retired generals, representatives of the Academy of
Arts and Sciences and of the Matrix Croaticum.
This is the first committee meeting which Janko Bobetko founded,
HDZ vice-president and president of the association of Homeland War
physicians, Andrija Hebrang, said. He added it was his honour to be
Bobetko's envoy.
Hebrang said the committee's purpose was to unite activities of
political parties, Homeland War associations, representatives of
the Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Martix Croaticum in
promoting the truth about the Homeland War.
Such a wide body, he said, should determine and coordinate all acts
with which they will support the government and parliament to
persist in the steps they have began to take, but also to warn them
that they were not satisfied with activities directed only in
formally refusing the indictment against General Bobetko.
"We demand that the government and parliament fully amend relations
between Zagreb and The Hague, to fully refuse indictments against
generals Ademi and Gotovina, not for formal, but content reasons,
since we believe that in a just, defence war, there is no objective
and superior responsibility," Hebrang stressed.
He said that the activities agreed on at the meeting today went two
ways -- that parliamentary parties present at the meeting would try
to amend Article 3 of the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the
international war crimes tribunal in parliament. If this does not
happen, "we will undertake some other steps, such as public rallies
and we will organise a referendum," he said.
The name of the committee -- Committee for Promoting the Truth on
the Homeland War -- was proof that the committee was not about
protecting one general, but all participants of the Homeland War,
and that they would fight against the distortion of the historic
truth about Croatia.
Hebrang said all parliamentary parties had been invited to the
meeting, and four had not turned up, of which two had excused
themselves, and two had given no signals.
Asked whether he knew that the tribunal was preparing three more
indictments, Hebrang said he had second-hand information, but that
the committee was not interested in individual indictments, but
rather accusations against Croatia.
The committee's task is to prevent such accusations if the legal and
legitimately elected government cannot do the same, Hebrang
concluded.
(hina) lml sb