POLICE COMPLETE INVESTIGATION ON DAMAGE TO MONUMENT IN VELJUN

KARLOVAC, May 18 (Hina) - Karlovac police has filed charges against two sergeants of the Croatian army for having damaged a monument to the victims of fascism in WWII in Veljun on May 17. The investigation into the case was carried out by Karlovac police and military police, and established the two were suspects in the crime of disturbing the peace of the deceased. the monument in Veljun, erected for 520 Serbs killed in 1941 by the Ustashi, was damaged at 1am Wednesday. According to a police report, "the base (of the monument) with the inscription and the plaque were torn down." Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Wednesday evening strongly condemned the incident and demanded an urgent and efficient investigation. Racan stressed this was so far the second time the monument was a target. The first incident occurred on May 6 during a commemoration. A group of Croats who were holding a commemoration in a neighbouring village to a Croat family killed by Veljun Chetniks in 1941 arrived at the commemoration in Veljun and interrupted it. The incident culminated when a woman, an invalid of the Homeland War, urinated on the monument. The media reported during the act she had screamed her son had been killed during the Homeland War, but she refuted this later, asserting the reporters had not heard her properly. Last week Karlovac police filed charges against her. (hina) lml jn