About a hundred Croatian war veterans and their families gathered in the centre of the northern Adriatic port city of Rijeka on Sunday to express their support for army generals and veterans accused of war crimes.
The protesters expressed their support to Ante Gotovina, Branimir Glavas, Tomislav Mercep, recently arrested Tihomir Purda, and Veljko Maric.
Denis Malnar of an association of war veterans said that veterans should not be discriminated against because they had fought for their country. He expressed his full support to the veterans accused of war crimes, especially to those "currently most vulnerable ones" -- Tihomir Purda and Veljko Maric, who are wanted by Serbia on war crimes charges.
Malnar called on the government and President Josipovic to take a tougher stance on the protection of veterans.
"Croatian institutions should stand in our defence just as we defended this country in wartime. Instead of taking a lukewarm stance, they should express dignity and pride and fight for justice and truth. We are looking at the final stage of a witch-hunt against veterans that has been going on for 11 years now, but we refuse to be the victims of Chapter 23 for the sake of Croatia's accession to the European Union," Malnar said.
