"For lack of arguments reasons are being made up to compromise General Gotovina," Zrilic said at a press conference, describing the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague as "a political court".
"It is unacceptable that Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte should blackmail Croatia and hold political speeches," he added.
Zrilic said that the Gotovina indictment, which he said was based on forged transcripts, put the whole country on trial. He accused "some servile Croatian media" of hating their own people.
"It is a general occurrence that people who betrayed the Croatian state, who testified against it and who fled when it declared independence are now lecturing Gotovina about patriotism," he said.
Zrilic concluded by saying that the campaign for the arrest of the runaway general was counterproductive and rejected by the people.
Also on Wednesday, the non-parliamentary Croatian Bloc (HB) party issued a statement accusing the government of attempting to debunk "the heroic myth" about General Gotovina by following instructions from del Ponte to give publicity to his alleged criminal past in France.
"Croatian political, cultural and religious elites responded to this disgrace with silence," the HB said.