SLAVONSKI BROD, Aug 17 (Hina) - The head of the Croatian Disabled War Veterans' Association (HVIDR), Marinko Liovic, said on Friday that he was aware General Petar Stipetic's order forbidding all active military personnel to take part
in meetings of support for Mirko Norac was a military secret, but he made it public because he was convinced it violated human rights and freedoms as guaranteed by the Constitution. "General Petar Stipetic has violated the Croatian Constitution by ordering Croatian Army members and active military personnel not to participate in meetings of support for General Mirko Norac in March this year," Liovic told a news conference he called in Slavonski Brod after the Defence Ministry pressed charges against him for disclosing a military secret. Liovic made Stipetic's order public at a news conference on March 21. Although at the time he was no longer an active member of
SLAVONSKI BROD, Aug 17 (Hina) - The head of the Croatian Disabled
War Veterans' Association (HVIDR), Marinko Liovic, said on Friday
that he was aware General Petar Stipetic's order forbidding all
active military personnel to take part in meetings of support for
Mirko Norac was a military secret, but he made it public because he
was convinced it violated human rights and freedoms as guaranteed
by the Constitution.
"General Petar Stipetic has violated the Croatian Constitution by
ordering Croatian Army members and active military personnel not to
participate in meetings of support for General Mirko Norac in March
this year," Liovic told a news conference he called in Slavonski
Brod after the Defence Ministry pressed charges against him for
disclosing a military secret.
Liovic made Stipetic's order public at a news conference on March
21. Although at the time he was no longer an active member of the
military but a parliamentary deputy, Liovic still had the
obligation of not disclosing military secrets.
"I believed that my fellow fighters and all Croatian citizens had
the right to know that we, as Croatian citizens with full rights,
are being forbidden to participate in and attend rallies of support
for General Norac, organised by the Headquarters for the Protection
of Homeland War's Dignity. If saying that some people in the Defence
Ministry are restricting freedom and violating the Constitution is
my sin, then I am prepared to answer for that sin," Liovic said.
Mirko Norac, a retired general, is standing trial in Rijeka under
charges of war crimes against civilians in Gospic in 1991.
"I did not disclose state secrets to the Hague tribunal like Stipe
Mesic nor did I help Milosevic, which is what Ivica Racan and Stipe
Mesic are doing today by verifying the letter of the Hague
prosecutor saying Gotovina and Ademi are responsible for (the
expulsion) of 150,000 Serbs," Liovic said.
President Mesic and Prime Minister Racan will end up in prison for
what they have done, Liovic concluded.
(hina) rml