HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE: ARMED VIOLENCE - A CONSTANT IN CROATIA

ZAGREB, Oct 6 (Hina) - The president of the Civil Committee for Human Rights (GOLJP), Zoran Pusic, said the reason why he was attacked on Monday while leaving the Zagreb County Court after the completion of the trial of Dinko Sakic, was "an intolerably mild attitude of authorities toward the perpetrators of crimes and the possession of weapons, as well as the uncritical attitude toward the promoters of violence". Pusic believes the incident in today's Croatia, where violence reigns, is not an exclusive piece of news, it is rather "a constant in our society". He believes the main promoter of violence in Croatia is the extreme right which "openly instigates and calls for violence against ethnic minorities, political opponents, and journalists". Pusic warned there was a danger of the promoters of political violence making their stands a legitimate political view. "A consequence of political violence is the real physical violence", he said, expressing concern that more serious incidents could happen in the pre-election period given the inappropriate rhetoric of politicians. At the beginning of the news conference, Pusic played a message from his answering machine in which an unidentified person, calling Pusic names, threatened with a new attack. (hina) rml