Branko Borkovic, a war-time commander of Croatian troops in the defence of the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar, on Thursday said that Serbia's decision to drop war crimes charges against Tihomir Purda case came too late and that Croatian war veterans would not quit protest rallies as they did not want Serbia to amnesty them but Croatia to protect them.
The decision has come too late as the entire case should not have occurred, in light of information I possess and the conduct of the Croatian authorities over the last 20 years in the case of Vukovar war veterans, Borkovic told reporters today.
We did not attack anybody and being the defenders of the Vukovar, we did not commit war crimes, he said, adding that veterans did not want Serbia to amnesty them.
He announced protest rallies as long as the situation with Serbia regarding the cases of Croatian soldiers who defended the country was not cleared up.
Borkovic said there would be many difficult moments ahead for the veterans, who are waiting for the Hague-based tribunal to rule in the cases of Croatian General Ante Gotovina and six war-time Bosnian Croat leaders.
He said that the rule of law still did not function in Croatia, as was evident in the case of Purda and his comrades Danko Maslov and Petar Janjic.
Purda was arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 5 January on a warrant issued by Serbia which suspected him of war crimes against prisoners and infirm people, and since then he has been in extradition custody in Zenica.
Purda said that the charges against him were based only on the confession which he gave under duress while he was detained in Serbian concentration camps.
