MINISTER PANCIC HOLDS TALKS WITH SOTIN PROTESTERS

SOTIN, March 17 (Hina) - Croatian Minister in charge of care for Homeland War Veterans, Ivica Pancic, on Friday evening talked with residents, a group of returnees, in the Vukovar suburb of Sotin, eastern Croatia. These returnees, whose family members disappeared during the war, have been holding peaceful protests since last summer insisting on the establishment of the truth about the destiny of their missing dear ones. The protesters told Minister Pancic that the process of searching for the 39 missing Sotin Croats was too slow and complained that police were inefficient in their attempt to get information from local Serbs about what had happened with the missing Croats. They added that rule of law did not function in the Croatian Danube River Area and said that since new Croatian authorities came in power local Serbs "have increasingly been flexing their muscles and provoking more and more." Asking the protesters for patience Minister Pancic said the rule of law must function on the entire territory of Croatia. New authorities should work on this issue so that all Croatian citizens can enjoy the equal treatment, Pancic said. Present at the meeting was the head of the Government Commission for missing and detained persons, Ivan Grujic. (hina) jn ms