ZAGREB, Sept 22 (Hina) - The Croatian Returnees' Union (ZPH) condemns the criminalisation and defamation of the Homeland War, as well as the public lynching of persons charged with war crimes before they are put on trial. The ZPH
seeks the prosecution of citizens of Serb nationality suspected of war crimes and the revision of the amnesty law, ZPH president Josip Kompanovic said in Zagreb on Friday. By condemning the defamation of Croatia's war of independence from the former Yugoslav federation, the ZPH is not joining the campaign staged by some parties and associations making threats of armed revolts in the wake of recent arrests of war crimes suspects, Kompanovic told reporters after a ZPG management committee meeting. He said the ZPH did not object to war crimes trials but to the equalising of victim and aggressor. According to Kompanovic, he possesses data on 112 Croatian
ZAGREB, Sept 22 (Hina) - The Croatian Returnees' Union (ZPH)
condemns the criminalisation and defamation of the Homeland War, as
well as the public lynching of persons charged with war crimes
before they are put on trial.
The ZPH seeks the prosecution of citizens of Serb nationality
suspected of war crimes and the revision of the amnesty law, ZPH
president Josip Kompanovic said in Zagreb on Friday.
By condemning the defamation of Croatia's war of independence from
the former Yugoslav federation, the ZPH is not joining the campaign
staged by some parties and associations making threats of armed
revolts in the wake of recent arrests of war crimes suspects,
Kompanovic told reporters after a ZPG management committee
meeting.
He said the ZPH did not object to war crimes trials but to the
equalising of victim and aggressor.
According to Kompanovic, he possesses data on 112 Croatian Serbs
from Vukovar-Srijem and Osijek-Baranja counties who roam Croatia
freely even though arrest warrants have been issued and court
proceedings initiated after them. He said the Interior Ministry was
aware of the warrants which were still in force but were being
ignored, and pointed to the possibility that these cases had been
"deleted from police computers."
The ZPH seeks that the Croatian judiciary immediately resume with
the trials against said persons, and that the Interior Ministry
ascertain the responsibility of its members who ignore the arrest
warrants.
The ZPH seeks the Croatian government to establish in areas of
special government concern centres for collecting material on war
crimes, and to initiate the revision of the amnesty law. According
to Kompanovic, among those amnestied were those who took part in war
crimes.
The ZPH seeks the government's body coordinating areas of special
government concern and First Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic to
initiate putting out of force the Erdut Agreement, which the ZPH
believes is discriminating.
Kompanovic explained that after the peaceful reintegration of the
Danube River Region in eastern Croatia with the rest of the state
several years ago, the agreement enabled local public companies to
continue employing persons who had not worked there prior to 1990,
which made it impossible for returnees to reclaim pre-war
positions.
(hina) ha jn