SAKIC AS A CHALLENGE

AIM ZAGREB, 6 May, 1998

The only thing missing for the former warden of the Ustasha concentration camp Jasenovac, Dinko Sakic, to be extradited to Croatia where he will be prosecuted as a war criminal, is the signature of the Argentinian President Carlos Saul Menem. Sakic himself helped speed up the extradition when he agreed to be extradited to Croatia because had he not, the Argentinian authorities would have to initiate investigation and produce evidence themselves, which would have taken some time. Namely, even in Croatia there are some problems with the provision of evidence corroborating Sakic's guilt because, although he was proclaimed war criminal in 1946, charges against him have never been instituted. However, several camp inmates who have survived the horrors of Jasenovac, have come forward stating their will to testify, and the Archives of Croatia announced that it will submit to the Court and Prosecutor's Office Sakic's personal file, although it was prepared less then seventy years ago, as required by the law.

The attempt of the Belgrade authorities to bring Sakic to trial in Yugoslavia "because he had committed crimes on the territory of the country Yugoslavia has succeeded" is interpreted in Croatia as pure propaganda because if Belgrade truly wanted Sakic to get a punishment he deserves, it would not have refused to hand over its documentation to Croatia. The Sakic case received great publicity all over the world, while in Croatia it caused numerous debates, controversies, re-opened old sores and brought back memories of some long-forgotten facts. Namely, some Croatian politicians, it is not hard to guess - the HDZ's right-wingers, and the Croatian Party of the Right (HSP), as well as some smaller pro-Ustasha parties argue that it was not by accident that Sakic has now been dragged into the open. That "now" means at the time when Croatia is exposed to increased pressures from all sides and is rather isolated on the international scene.

Some advocates of the theory of international conspiracy against Croatia refuse to remember that it was precisely the state news agency HINA which in 1995, ran a story about Sakic stating that he was alive and living in Argentina, and that monthly "Magazin" published that same year an interview with the last warden of Jasenovac. Lady journalist Aleksa Crnjakovic, who was touring Argentina covering President Tudjman's visit to that country talked to Sakic. It was announced already then that Croatia would demand his extradition. Why wasn't that done at that time before Wiezantal's Centre stepped in? At the same time, the question has been raised of the Chetnik Voivode Momcilo Djuic, who is living in the USA, which was rumoured already at the time Andrija Artukovic's trial. The official Washington simply replied: no one has asked Djuic 's extradition!

All the goings-on regarding Sakic, both in Croatia and abroad, have induced the Association of the Croatian Judges to express "its grave concern over the created atmosphere which exceeds understandable and justified public interest in this case, and which endangers the minimum standard conditions of general public's behaviour required for an impartial and fair trial. Cheap sensationalism and shallow politicking in the public questioning of the suspect's innocence or guilt, paternalistic requests for a regular and fair trial on the part of of certain international factors, as well as other forms of prejudicing the outcome of the trial on the one hand, and questioning of the Croatian judiciary on the other, objectively represent the obstruction of justice and shall influence the course and outcome of the proceedings" - said the release.

The bringing of Sakic to justice has, for its part, started or, better said, flared up discussions about the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), the Ustasha movement, war victims, especially in Jasenovac, but also Beliburg, about Pavelic, Tito, anti-fascist struggle, in other words about everything that could be summarized as the relation of the current Croatian authorities towards Tudjman's idea on reconciliation (between Ustashas and Partisans, i.e. communists). Reconciliation is one of the basic pillars of Tudjman's ideology in which he went so far that he wanted to mix the bones of the victims with those of their executioners, and as it seems hasn't abandoned the idea. All this had started at the first HDZ Congress with Tudjman's famous statement that NDH was not only a fascist creation, but also an expression of the aspirations of the Croatian people to have their own state. Although this thesis can be much discussed, as a former Partisan and a YPA (Yugoslav People's Army) general, or better said an anti-fascist, in his practical activities Tudjman rallied behind himself extreme rightists, not shunning even the Ustashas.

After all, didn't he, in the name of that same reconciliation, appoint member of the District Chamber of the Parliament the late Vinko Nikolic, who was rumoured to be also on the list of war criminals? Didn't he allow Pavelic's son-in-law, Psenicnik to roam around Croatia and hold rallies, and didn't he meet with Rojnica and similar Ustasha officials both in the country and abroad? He demonstrated his partiality for the Ustasha movement by introducing the kuna, by the colour and design he chose for the Croatian Army uniforms, by naming the streets after war criminals, like Mile Budak, by destroying two thousand monuments erected in honour of the National Liberation Struggle, by totally revising events in the 1941-1945 period, by forming coalitions with parties which carry on the Ustasha ideals and still salute with a raised hand and the Ustasha slogan "Ready for the Fatherland".

The kind of reconciliation Tudjman had in mind is best seen from that which the Croatian children are taught today in schools. History textbook for the fourth grade of elementary school reads: "In 1941, the Second World War spread to Croatia, as well as to other countries. Very soon after the attack of the Fascist powers in 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrendered. On April 10, 1941, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was proclaimed in Zagreb. Under the prevailing international circumstances and war conditions the new stated did not fulfil the expectations of the Croatian people. Therefore, already on June 22, 1941, the struggle had started to create a new Croatian state. During the war which was waged for four years on the Croatian soil, the country suffered much destruction and its population great horrors".

In other words, not a word about the Ustashas, Partisans, Pavelic or Tito, and all that below the level prescribed in the Constitution which clearly states in its Preamble the kind of and whose state the NDH was, as well as that Croatia of today is a continuation of the state created on the basis of traditions of anti-fascism and ZAVNOH (Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Croatia). Interestingly, all the HDZ founders were anti-fascists, but have in time broke away from it as Tudjman took a turn to the right. Stipe Mesic was one of them and when long ago, while he was still in power, we asked him why was the President openly flirting with the Ustashas, he answered directly: "I sincerely do not know. I don't know why does he need that, because the Croats would get their state even without the Ustashas." There is no doubt as to who in Croatia is the architect of the idea on the rehabilitation of the Ustasha movement under the dubious guise of some kind of reconciliation.

Actually, Tudjman did not proclaim any reconciliation, but rather sawn the seed of discord among the more or less "reconciled" Croats. However, even if Tudjman needed this rightist option and coalition with the Ustashas while the war was on, although that is also questionable, for everyone knows who won in the Second World War in Croatia and who had the greatest number of Partisan units during the hardest moments of the war, the question remains why is he doing it now? Is this simply a trap he has fallen into, is he repaying his debts, or perhaps has simply fallen victim to the old proverb "They that deal with the devil get a dear pennyworth"?

All public opinion polls, especially the more recent ones, show that the Croatian population does not share the opinion of its leadership, which is particularly true as regards Tito. In these polls those who think badly of him are outnumbered by three to one, while arguments about 45 years of communist darkness are being more frequently dismissed as silly. Vladimir Seks, Vice-President of the Croatian State Parliament, recently stated that legal proceedings against Sakic would be an opportunity to determine the truth about victims of the war, both as regards those killed in Jasenovac, but also in Beliburg. However, serious politicians, historians and journalists think this to be a sheer nonsense. Namely, Sakic should be tried for what he had done and it is up to the science to examine those dark parts of the past so as to put a stop to disputes about numbers. Here again, assistance of the FR Yugoslavia is needed, since, allegedly, its Archives contain exact census of the victims of the Second World War, but Belgrade is reluctant to hand them over.

It would be exaggeration and incorrect to say that fascism has become loose and dominating in Croatia, but it is true that dangerous tendencies are present, which are growing weaker with time. The right question is whether, in the name of democracy, pro-Ustasha parties should be allowed to work and why hasn't Croatia learned its lesson from, for example, Germany, because hard and merciless criticism of Nazism even in school curricula and legislation, made it possible for Germany to marginalize those political forces which sprang from Fuehrer's ideological source. The Croatian Party of the Right has recently submitted to Parliament a draft Law on Lustration (prohibition of public political activity to all previous members of communist authorities), but the HDZ rejected it flatly. The Democratic Alliance of Istria is now trying to push through the Parliament the Law on the Expulsion of the Ustasha Movement from Croatia. It is to be expected that they will have the same destiny. However, Tudjman did some minor things. He forbade the HSP members to wear black flags and uniforms, and forced the football club "Hrvatski dragovoljac" (The Croatian Volunteer) to change its black jerseys for different ones.

All in all, the Sakic case has hit Croatia at a very inopportune moment, the more so because the world is watching Pantovcak and Banski dvori (Presidential Palace) through a magnifying glass, because Croatia is shaking with crises, like those with the Bank of Dubrovnik, Hrvoje Sarinic's resignation, Gojko Susak's death, etc.

GOJKO MARINKOVIC