HDZ BH SENDS PROTEST OVER ARRESTS OF CROATS TO FROWICK

MOSTAR, Sept 14 (Hina) - Election headquarters secretary of the Croatian Democratic Union Party of Bosnia-Herzegovina (HDZ BH) Nevenko Herceg on Sunday afternoon forwarded a protest letter to the head of the Bosnian mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and chairman of the Temporary Election Commission, Robert Frowick, informing him that several citizens of Croat nationality had been illegally arrested yesterday and today (Bosnian municipal election days). In the letter, Herceg mentioned the arrest of Alojz Boban from Sarajevo by the Sarajevo police. "Alojz Boban has been detained without a warrant, questioned and molested without good reason, connected to the so called lie-detector, while his flat has been searched without a warrant", wrote Herceg. He recalled earlier instances of "harassment of Croats", known to have taken place in Sarajevo, Travnik, Gornji Vakuf, etc., as well as murders, expulsions, house-demolishing, explosives, and the like. "We believe these occurrences to be deliberate, aimed at intimidating Croats and preventing them from freely taking part in the election", Herceg pointed out. "This act brings into question the regularity of the election since, in the wake of this, many Croats on the territory controlled by Bosniak (Muslim) authorities will be unable to register for the election. We also stress that there have been violations of human rights by police employees," he added. At the end of his letter, Herceg requested Frowick to undertake necessary measures in line with his mandate. (hina) ha mm 141842 MET sep 97