ZAGREB'S RADIO 101 MARKS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF RALLY OF SUPPORT

ZAGREB, Nov 23 (Hina) - The fifth anniversary of the rally of support for Zagreb's Radio 101, which drew more than 100,000 Zagreb residents to the central city square on November 21, 1996, was marked at the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) on Thursday evening. Speaking about the spontaneous gathering of more than 100,000 citizens after the Council for Radio and Television refused to extend the station's broadcasting permit, Radio 101 editor-in- chief Zrinka Vrabec-Mojzes said the rally was "a moment of hope that a free and civil society can develop in Croatia." "Democratic changes did not happen on January 3 or at the presidential elections, but at the rally of support for Radio 101," said Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who attended the ceremony. HND president Dragutin Lucic said the rally had marked the arrival of "new times and showed that freedom cannot be stopped." The ceremony at the HND building gathered a number of state officials, who five years ago supported the station's efforts to continue broadcasting as members of the Opposition. (hina) rml