GONG OFFERS APOLOGY TO ZVONIMIR SEPAROVIC

ZAGREB, Jan 5 (Hina) - The non-government association "Organised Election Monitoring By Citizens (GONG)" offers its apology to Zvonimir Separovic if its statement about the gathering of signatures for Separovic's presidential candidacy on election day, January 3, which should have been additionally checked by journalists, has in any way damaged Separovic's reputation. In a statement forwarded to the National Electoral Commission on Wednesday, GONG spokeswoman Aleksandra Kuratko recalled that at a January 3 news conference GONG's executive director said that the gathering of signatures for some presidential candidacies on election day, January 3, had been reported. She also said that this might not be in contravention of legal regulations but was certainly not in the spirit of the conduct of a free and fair election. The intention was not to damage the reputation of any of the presidential candidates, said Kuratko, but rather warn about the atmosphere of the election. When asked about the identity of the presidential candidate she was referring to, the GONG executive director said it was, among others, Zvonimir Separovic, and that the first report had come from Austria and the second from a Zagreb suburb. Separovic's electoral headquarters yesterday requested that the GONG apologise and correct the information published. Kuratko said the part of the statement from Separovic's electoral headquarters according to which it was initially believed that signatures were gathered at a polling station in Vienna was correct. However, it was later reported that the polling station in question was the one in Feldkirch. The part of the statement about the polling station in Krapina is incorrect, Kuratko added. Although reporters had been told that the information needed confirmation, the media relayed it as an established fact, the GONG said. (hina) rml