ZAGREB, June 5, 2020 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardic said on Friday that the court ruling allowing the use of the Ustasha salute "For the Homeland Ready" in a song was scandalous, adding that this was the result of fascism being downplayed the current government.
"The ruling by the High Misdemeanour Court that Marko Perkovic Thompson may use the salute For the Homeland Ready (in his song) is scandalous. Imagine a German court allowing the use of the salute Sieg Heil or Heil Hitler! in Germany," Bernardic said at a press conference while commenting on the court ruling.
He said that the ruling was the result of four years of failure to deal with this problem and of fascism being downplayed by this government which legalized the salute For the Homeland Ready through the commission dealing with the consequences of the rule of undemocratic regimes.
He stressed that Croatia was united in the 1991-1995 Homeland War and that no one had the right to cast a stain on it by using the fascist symbols of the Ustasha regime that was defeated in the Second World War.
Milanovic: Court ruling is odd
During his visit to Sisak on Thursday, President Zoran Milanovic was asked by reporters to comment on the court ruling. He said he had not seen it, but that it seemed odd to him.
"The matter should have been dealt with more clearly by the criminal code, but no one, of course, should go to prison for that, and I will have no influence on it. It should be an indictable offense punishable by a suspended sentence or a caution. In this way, we only put judges in silly situations and it puts a great burden on them," Milanovic said, adding that the police would not know what to do either.
He said that Article 5 of the Public Order Act was vague and should be changed.
