ZAGREB, Feb 12 (Hina) - Croatia now needs peace and dialogue so let us try to create circumstances in which what is going on will be clarified in a tolerant manner, parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic said on Monday in relation to
protests held last weekend against the arrest of retired general Mirko Norac. I believe this is a new political platform aiming at the annulment of the results of the January 2000 elections in an illegitimate way and creating circumstances for changing the political situation in Croatia through chaos and hatred, Tomcic told Croatian Radio. He said he was aware that this was a serious assessment, stressing, however, that it was inadmissible to take to the streets to demand the rescinding of the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Tomcic reminded that the parliament had passed by consensus a declaration on the Homeland
ZAGREB, Feb 12 (Hina) - Croatia now needs peace and dialogue so let
us try to create circumstances in which what is going on will be
clarified in a tolerant manner, parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic
said on Monday in relation to protests held last weekend against the
arrest of retired general Mirko Norac.
I believe this is a new political platform aiming at the annulment
of the results of the January 2000 elections in an illegitimate way
and creating circumstances for changing the political situation in
Croatia through chaos and hatred, Tomcic told Croatian Radio.
He said he was aware that this was a serious assessment, stressing,
however, that it was inadmissible to take to the streets to demand
the rescinding of the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Tomcic reminded that the parliament had passed by consensus a
declaration on the Homeland Defence War, which reads that Croatia
led a just, legitimate and defence war. Furthermore, the
declaration reads that for the sake of the dignity of the Homeland
Defence War, the Croatian judiciary must process all cases of
individual war crimes, applying the principles of individual
responsibility and guilt.
Protests are not an attempt to protect the dignity of that war but
simply an attempt to exempt any Homeland Defence War participant
from individual accountability.
The parliament speaker reminded that the Croatian Democratic Union
had voted for the declaration but that now the party was directly or
indirectly advocating opposite standpoints, such as the permanent
end to the prosecution of all war veterans.
Asked to comment on a protest announced for Feb. 15 at St. Marc's
Square, downtown Zagreb, Tomcic said he had nothing against free
expression of will at protests as long as they were in line with
standards. However, it looks like this is the continuation of
permanent pressure, which started about 10 days ago, and is aimed at
fomenting tension among the public, the parliament speaker
concluded.
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