ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - The president of the Headquarters for the protection of Homeland War values, Mirko Condic, has expressed satisfaction with the protest rally "Time's Up", which he said had gathered 70,000 people in Zagreb last
Saturday. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Condic said he was dissatisfied with media reports about the event because they made the turnout at the rally look smaller. He also accused the Zagreb police superintendent of joining in "the propaganda machinery." "These Goebelses of our time were stunned by the turnout which was exceptionally good given a fierce media campaign, so they resorted to distorting the truth," Condic said. The Zagreb police told reporters after the end of the rally on Saturday the protest had been attended by 13,000-15,000 people. The main aim of the rally was "to warn the current authorities that they are violating the Constitution by refusing to call
ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - The president of the Headquarters for the
protection of Homeland War values, Mirko Condic, has expressed
satisfaction with the protest rally "Time's Up", which he said had
gathered 70,000 people in Zagreb last Saturday.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Condic said he was
dissatisfied with media reports about the event because they made
the turnout at the rally look smaller. He also accused the Zagreb
police superintendent of joining in "the propaganda machinery."
"These Goebelses of our time were stunned by the turnout which was
exceptionally good given a fierce media campaign, so they resorted
to distorting the truth," Condic said.
The Zagreb police told reporters after the end of the rally on
Saturday the protest had been attended by 13,000-15,000 people.
The main aim of the rally was "to warn the current authorities that
they are violating the Constitution by refusing to call a
referendum at which citizens would decide whether Croatian
soldiers should enjoy the same status as that granted to World War
II liberation armies and all liberation armies in the world."
"The Headquarters is confident the Croatian people and citizens
would give their vote to us, soldiers," Condic said.
The rally was staged to "show the strength of soldiers and their
dignity and let them demonstrate their dissatisfaction with many
processes in the country which degrade our struggle as well as point
to the poor living conditions most soldiers live in."
Asked about the costs of the Saturday rally, Condic said they had
been covered with volunteer work and donations. He said he had
personally donated some DEM3,000.
Asked what would happen if the authorities failed to voice their
stand on the requests forwarded by the Headquarters by October 27,
Condic said the Headquarters would make a decision after that
deadline and inform the public about it. Possible measures include
civil disobedience campaigns, including the non-payment of the TV
subscription.
Commenting on the possibility for the Headquarters to participate
in the next parliamentary election, Condic said the headquarters
was a supra-party institution and such a possibility had yet to be
considered.
Commenting on estimates that the Headquarters was a politicised
body, Condic said the association was supported by the Opposition,
which, unlike the authorities, supported its petition on the
referendum.
Before the start of the news conference, Condic told reporters the
host of Saturday's rally, Denis Sabic, a Croatian Radio reporter,
was dismissed this morning by Croatian Radio editor-in-chief Dusko
Radic.
(hina) sb rml