DJAPIC: I DID NOT THREATEN SERBS, MY WORDS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT

ZAGREB, June 2 (Hina) - President of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) Anto Djapic on Friday dismissed claims by the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO) according to which his speech during a Homeland War veterans' rally in Vukovar of May 30, had been an example of a speech of hatred, extreme claims and threats. Djapic told Hina his words had been drawn out of context. I did not threaten Serbs in Vukovar and I do not expect the state attorney's office to initiate proceedings against me, he asserted. The press reported the Vukovar County attorney's office had already requested police to establish what Djapic had said at the rally. Djapic confirmed he had said "'Let the Serbs in Vukovar know that some former authorities, even this new authority, can adopt a hundred laws on amnesty and reconstruction, but we will come to power sooner or later, and then woe betide you". This utterances, Djapic said, had been drawn out of context, and pertained to Serbs who had committed crimes in Vukovar. The claim is not nationalist, nor had enticed to inter-ethnic hatred, he said. Should any proceedings be initiated, I will easily prove in court that some Serbs in Vukovar had indeed committed crimes, he added. Djapic recalled that the HHO had last year asked the state attorney's office to initiate criminal proceedings against him for alleged "enticing to a state coup". This is evidence that the HHO has for years been trying to mark the HS as a black-shirt, nationalist party, Djapic said. He added he had been receiving hundreds of telegrams daily, in which the residents of Vukovar were expressing support to his speech. (hina) lml jn