BUGGING OF THE CROATS

AIM, SPLIT, April 14, 1995

Although ten days have already passed since the weekly "Globus" published an interview with the semi-recognized Chairman of the Croat Assembly, Dr Nedjeljko Mihanovic, reactions to his statements are still echoing. The Croats could learn about Croatia from that interview everything they have maybe anticipated but have never known, and have never dared ask. Among other, Dr Mihanovic said that Croatia had not had its state sovereign for 900 years "and now, instead of being all happy and proud that we have our own Croat sovereign again and finally, some are trying to oppose, they are trying to dispute his state authority". Therefore, now all the Croats know where they stand. Mihanovic was very precise - in 1102, when the last Croat King Petar Svacic fell in battle of Gvozd.

The only problem is that in these 900 years, technology by means of which the authorities, that is the sovereign keeps his subjects submissive have changed a little. Namely, like any other king, King Svacic was probably eavesdropping on his subjects. But, in his time, there were no telephones, while nowadays they have become an irreplaceable means of communication, and therefore a modern aid for getting even with political opponents. That is how a new Croat scandal exploded in the past few days, which was denoted by Dr Mira Ljubic-Lorger, President of the Dalmatian Action (DA), as Croat Watergate.

The President of the Dalmatian Action publicized the case of bugging on the occasion of the recent assembly of her party by declaring that the two vice-presidents who demanded her resignation were in fact manipulated by the authorities, since they were dealing with the data she mentioned only by phone. She used the data on financing the assembly as the key argument, since her vice-presidents claimed that its organization was financed by the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) with 7000 German marks. In connection with that, Mira Lorger said that this figure was mentioned only once in a telephone conversation she had with a person from the IDS, but that the currency was not mentioned, and that it was in fact the sum in local currency - kunas. Since the vice-presidents brought this datum out into the open the very next day after the telephone conversation, the President of the DA, in a manner of an experienced politician, turned the completely unfavourable situation spectacularly in her favour.

But, this is not the first case of bugging in free and finally independnt Croatia. The first to come forward with it was the University Professor Dr Nikola Viskovic, who was still a deputy in the assembly in 1991, when he said that his phone was bugged and offered evidence for it. The arrogant authorities rejected haughtily the accusations with a rather unconvincing declaration of the minister of the interior who said that there was no bugging in Croatia. At that time, the newspapers published an interview with the Slovenian minister of the interior who publicly stated that telephones were bugged in Slovenia and that it was surely done in Croatia as well.

And yet, it was all hushed up and forgotten until a stenogram of a conversation of Luka Bebic, Chairman of the Assembly Committee for Internal Policy and National Security and a member of the ruling party appeared in public on the occasion of machinations concerning the transformation of the trading company "Razvitak" from Metkovic. The conversation went on by mobitel, which illustrates best the readiness to bug and the power of those who apply such methods when even a politician influential and close to Tudjman was not immune to them. Therefore, it is only logical why Perica Juric from the ranks of Mesic's Independent Democrats wondered who could Bebic and his Committee protect when he was not even capable of protecting himself.

All Croat politicians one after the other express suspicion that they are being bugged, and almost all of them insinuate that the premises of the Assembly are "wired". Even Vice Vukojevic, who was once the head of one of the numerous Croat information services and who is believed by many to be a hard-core member of the ruling Croat Democratic Community (HDZ), declared that someone had bugged the premises where his Committee for investigation of victims of war used to work.

On the basis of the cases of Bebic and Vukojevic one could think that bugging actually jeopardizes the ruling institutions, especially since the established rule is to bug first those who are the closest to it. And yet, as Ivan Jakovcic, President of the IDS, says "according to the behavior of the deputies who are more experienced than I am, and who discuss significant matters in the Assembly corridors, and never in their offices, I can assume that the Assembly is bugged." This is, therefore, a case of establishing complete control over people and institutions. The Liberal deputy Franko Zenko says that "not a measly report can be obtained from the Government", and his party colleague, Jozo Rados, who is also a member of Bebic's Committee, adds that the Committee is of no use either, because even when they did get a report about the activities of the Service for Protection of the Constitutional System, it was completely useless and contained no information.

But noone should be surprised, after all, because the Croats have finally got what they wanted, and as Vladimir Bebic, the independent deputy says, "nothing has changed". Bugging of his own people interrupted 900 years ago, instead of King Svacic, has now been resumed by the new Croat sovereign.

PERO JURISIN