ALKAR SOCIETY CONDEMNS BEHAVIOUR OF WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S ALKA

SINJ, Aug 17 (Hina) - The Alkar Society on Friday issued a statement dismissing claims that this year's Alka tournament was a rightist rally and condemning the conduct of this year's winner Ivica Peric and multiple Alka winner Ognjen Preost. "The 286th Alka, although organised under special circumstances, was a tournament of honour and dignity and not a rally of the rigid Right or a travelling circus, as some wish to depict it," reads the statement, signed by 20 of 23 alkars and 30 junior competitors, who said the statement was prompted by the intense media campaign that accompanied this year's tournament. "We condemn the behaviour of this year's winner Ivica Peric who accused alajcaus (senior Alka member) Ivan Zorica of having prevented him from accepting the gift of the tournament's sponsor and made a series of unfounded statements regarding other alkars," the statement reads. The society also condemns the behaviour of multiple Alka winner Ognjen Preost who accused Zorica of having influenced the tournament's duke, retired General Mirko Norac's decision to exclude him (Preost) from the tournament. No one can cause discord among alkars and the Croat people, reads the statement, adding the Alka was not a political organisation but a symbol of the struggle for freedom and equality of the Croat people. (hina) rml