Euronews.net, France, December 09, 2005
Nationalists in Croatia rally for Gotovina
For some Ante Gotovina is a war criminal, but for many Croatian nationalists he is a hero. Hundreds gathered in the capital Zagreb to protest against the arrest of the fugitive general and his impending transfer to the Hague tribunal. They shouted slogans accusing their government of selling out to the European Union, which has linked the capture of Gotovina to Croatia's EU accession.
One man at the protest said: "I'm not too upset - he's alive, and he'll fight."
"It is one of the hardest things in our lives," a woman remarked. "All these years he has been a hero, and now he has to go somewhere where he doesn't belong."
"This is a spontaneous gathering. Others are taking place in other towns, one man commented. "On Sunday there will be a major protest in Split."
Clashes broke out when some demonstrators tried to push through police barriers in front of the main government building. They were demanding that Prime Minister Ivo Sanader address them.
At least five protestors were arrested.
Several of the building's windows were broken by stones.
Serbs revile Gotovina for his part in Operation Storm in 1995 in which almost the entire Croatian Serb population was displaced, but some nationalists in Croatia believe that without it modern Croatia would not exist in its present form.
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