SARINIC SENDS LETTER TO AKASHI - STATEMENT

ZAGREB, May 9 (Hina) - The Chairman of the Croatian Government Commission for UNCRO and Presidential Chief of Staff, Hrvoje Sarinic, today forwarded a letter to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Yasushi Akashi, in connection with the plight of Croats and Slovaks in eastern Slavonia, a Presidential Office statement said. "The position of Croats, Slovaks and other non-Serb population in the area of eastern Slavonia is deteriorating by the day. Yesterday, on May 8, 1995 the Ivancevic family were expelled from Ilok. Serb settlers are holding rallies demanding that the remaining 1,500 people, mostly Croats and Slovaks, move out. Several people were beaten up while some had bombs thrown into their yards. All the male population was mobilized and forced to dig trenches under threat of never returning to their homes. On Sunday, May 7, 1995, Catholic priest Marko Malovic could not say solemn mass in the Ilok church. The Catholic community in Ilok is concerned about his fate because he has been the only Catholic priest in the occupied area. A large number of newly-arrived Serbs came to Ilok on May 4, 1995, moving into the houses of non-Serbs so that these were forced to live in outhouses. School classes are suspended and the non- Serbs are exposed to terror of newly-arrived Serbs. Members of UNCRO and UNCIVPOL are unable to provide protection of the non-Serb population, and according to our information, they are acting indifferently. "We ask you, Your Excellency, to take adequate steps so that UNCRO and UNCIVPOL forces could protect the non-Serb population against harassment, looting and mobilization, and to secure protection of the only priest in the occupied area, father Marko Malovic in Ilok," the letter said. Sarinic had sent a letter to Akashi several days ago to inform him of the difficult position of Croats in Banja Luka and Bosanska Gradiska, northwestern Bosnia. Sarinic demanded that UN peacekeepers put an immediate end to the maltreatment of Croats in these areas, the statement concluded. (hina) mm vm 092003 MET may 95