Veselica said that the problem of politically-motivated persecution was insufficiently studied.
According to some estimates more than 160,000 Croats were jailed from 1945 to the collapse of the Yugoslav federation. Out of 98,000 prisoners in the Stara Gradiska prison in that period, 32,000 were political prisoners who were tortured, Veselica said.
They were abused and killed and those who survived were disabled people after the imprisonment standing no chance to get job in the country which was why they left Croatia, he said.
Veselica recalled that in January 2006, the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on persecution in countries with the Communist rule, calling for more attention to and more investigations of this problem as well as for compensation to be given to victims and their families.
The HDPZ also adopted a declaration on this matter a month later and it sent its document to top office holders in Croatia, Veselica said criticising the authorities for insufficient support to efforts to thoroughly investigate the Communist-era persecutions and inform the public about them.
Addressing the event Parliament Deputy Speaker Vladimir Seks said that the HDPZ brings together the fighters for the freedom and independence of Croatia and for Croatia free of all totalitarian ideologies and regimes.
He said that Croatia must always stay on its guard against entering any totalitarian and authoritarian regime.
Seks recalled that the Croatian constitution bans entry into any Yugoslav association as Yugoslav associations had meant tragedy and suffering for the Croatian people.