"I kindly ask Metropolitan Jovan to publish the letter the mayor sent to him so that we could learn the truth," Ljustina told a news conference in the Croatian capital on Wednesday.
He explained that Bandic could not reveal the contents of the letter as he had not sent him the open letter, and denied speculations that the mayor had demanded the replacement of the local dignitary, Zagreb parish priest Milenko Popovic, over the issue of the "Zagreb" cinema.
Last week the Zagreb city government's office for real estate management stated that the City of Zagreb could in no way influence the decision on the selection of the buyer for the cinema in the city centre after the local government waived its right to a pre-emptive purchase of the cinema.
The City of Zagreb was given the pre-emptive purchase rights from the "Kinematografi" company and in March 2006 the city government decided to waive this right, the press release reads.
The city government believes that the Serb Orthodox Church was equated with all other legal and physical entities in the procedure for compensation of confiscated property and in the rights to compensation for or restitution of confiscated property.
According to the city official, the compensation would be ensured by shares from the Croatian Privatisation Fund or bonds to be issued by the Croatian government.
Last week's statement was issued amid heated discussions about plans for the reconstruction of Cvjetni Trg Square in downtown Zagreb where the Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord is located near the building that houses the cinema that was nationalised by the communist authorities in 1949.
In June 2006, Orthodox Church dignitaries urged the Croatian Government to stop what they called the unjust sale of the cinema after Kinematografi sold it to the "Immo Worldwide" company and businessman Tomo Horvatincic.
Church representatives reported that in May they learnt from the media that Kinematografi had sold "Zagreb" to "Immo Worldwide".
Subsequently the church filed a lawsuit with the Zagreb Municipal Court against Immo Worldwide and Horvatincic over property rights.
On 10 January 2007, representatives of the Serb Orthodox Church in Zagreb said that Horvatincic was deluding the public when saying that the church had lost the suit, and added that proceedings for the compensation of nationalised property were still under way.
After that Mayor Bandic sent a strongly-worded letter to the head of the Serb Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Jovan, complaining to him about the behaviour of the church dignitaries in Zagreb over the issue of the "Zagreb" cinema, according to the Croatian press.
Jovan was quoted as saying that in the entire case the legal order was being undermined as the Serb Orthodox Church was still engaged in the "Zagreb" cinema lawsuit.
Media reports say that Horvatincic plans to demolish the existing buildings and build a block of modern buildings in Cvjetni Trg Square and that this investment will cost about 100 million euros. However, his plans have been met with strong disapproval by some Croatian architects, actors, and many local civil society organisations.