ZAGREB, Dec 13 (Hina) - The funeral procession, with the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's coffin, set forth from the Mirogoj morgue toward the burial site at 15:10 Monday. Sounds of music followed the procession.
ZAGREB, Dec 13 (Hina) - The funeral procession, with the late
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's coffin, set forth from the
Mirogoj morgue toward the burial site at 15:10 Monday. Sounds of
music followed the procession.#L#
Heading from the morgue toward the crypt behind the Church of Lord
Jesus Christ, the cortege passed between two rows of members of the
Croatian Army guard brigades.
At the top of the procession the Cross with the inscribed name of the
first Croatian President Franjo Tudjman was carried by General
Dragan Skrtic.
He was followed by Croatian officers carrying Croatian and
presidential flags, the funeral orchestra and members of the
honorary battalion.
There were all Croatian bishops and archbishops led by Zagreb
Archbishop Josip Bozanic, and soldiers carrying the deceased
President's medals and decorations.
Behind the coffin walked members of Tudjman's family - his wife
Ankica, his daughter Nevenka, his sons Miroslav and Stjepan with
their wives, grandchildren and his brother Ivica with his wife. The
grieved family was accompanied by President Tudjman's aide de camp
Major General Kresimir Kaspar.
?he cannon battery fired a 25 gun-salute in honour the late
President.
The first President of the Republic of Croatia was buried at 15:37
hrs Monday in the crypt behind the Church of Lord Jesus Christ at
Zagreb's central cemetery Mirogoj, with sounds of the national
anthem.
At that time bells of all Zagreb churches and churches throughout
the country were tolling and Croatia's Air Force planes were flying
over the Croatian capital.
Besides the Tudjman family, numerous Croatian officials and
distinguished personalities as well as international
representatives came to the funeral to pay tribute to the architect
of the independent Croatian State.
Farewell was bidden at the overcrowded Mirogoj cemetery and nearby
streets by an estimated 100,000 people who arrived from all regions
of Croatia and the Diaspora.
Prior to the lowering of the coffin in the crypt, the President's
aide de camp Gen. Kaspar handed over to the Tudjman family a
Croatian flag that covered the casket. Mrs. Ankica Tudjman kissed
the flag weeping.
The flag was taken from the coffin by members of the honorary unit
while the last post was sounded.
Bowing before the coffin and throwing first petals on it,
Archbishop Bozanic rendered the last blessing to President
Tudjman.
After him, Tudjman's family members and then senior Croatian
officials threw petals paying their last respects to the husband,
father, grandfather, brother and the first Croatian President,
Franjo Tudjman.
At the end of the funeral rites a song "Romance on the Town" from
Zajc's "Nikola Subic Zrinski" was performed by Ratomir Kliskic and
Nina Cosetto.
The crypt of President Tudjman was built of black granite. It is
placed behind the Church of Lord Jesus Christ, at the central site
in relation to the Main Cross and two rows of Mirogoj Arcades where
many Croatian great men rest in peace.
The tombstone has the inscription: "Dr. Franjo Tudjman 1922.- 1999.
President of the Republic of Croatia."
President Tudjman passed away on Friday, December 10.
By the open grave, academician Ivan Aralica held a farewell
speech.
"You were one of those who, occupied with the basic idea that small
peoples should enjoy equal rights as do large nations - to their own
state - listened to the evangelical message that they should stay
awake day and night and keep vigil, if they want to live to see what
they are waiting for, because no one knows when what they are
waiting for will happen. You knew how to learn and keep awake, you
knew how to endure and await, and when the moment arrived, you made
your and the wish of your people come true," Aralica said.
He stressed that national reconciliation, one of the postulates of
Tudjman's political thought, was the foothold of his views about
the state, society, and democratic order.
"First, the national state with mutually reconciled citizens, and
second, and simultaneously, within that state framework, human
rights and pluralist democracy. Neither human rights nor pluralist
democracy can be achieved in this region without a state. This has
never been more obvious than at the moment of your passing," the
eminent Croatian writer and Tudjman's long-standing aide, said.
What I have said now and many other things that will be found in your
books and the books that have already been written and will be
written about you, as of this moment become the active legacy of
Croatian political thought. It becomes the common good of all
political currents. Those currents will determine themselves
according to that legacy in either way, but no-one will be able to
avoid it. They will be determined by determining themselves toward
your legacy.
The religious service during the funeral was held by Zagreb
Archbishop Josip Bozanic.
(hina) ms