CROATIAN INTELLECTUALS MARK 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1988 PROTEST

ZAGREB, Dec 10 (Hina) - Participants in the first public protest organised in opposition of human rights violations in the former Socialist Republic of Croatia, gathered on Thursday in the Croatian National Sabor to mark the 10th anniversary of the protest. In 1988 the protesters handed their petition to the then Sabor President Andjelko Runjic, demanding protection of freedom of movement for persons whose passports had been confiscated by the authorities. The petition was signed by about 30 Croatian intellectuals, including today's MPs Vladimir Seks, Drazen Budisa, Marko Veselica and Vlado Gotovac. Recalling this act, which in those times was considered a sign of bravery, the author of the petition, Vladimir Seks, stressed that the request for return of passports was only a formal cause for the participants to express other requests regarding the basic human rights. "The public protest held on December 10, 1988 in St. Mark's square, was one of the first steps towards democratic changes and the events of 1989 and 1990", said Seks. The 1988 protest had shown that there were people in Croatia who were ready to fight for the idea of a free and independent Croatia, said Marko Veselica. Today's gathering in the Sabor was organised on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. (hina) rml