President Milanović Comments on Initiative to Pardon Perković and Mustač: “It surprised me. The precedent is that Croatia is run by such a corrupt government”

After taking part in a special session of the Zadar County Assembly held on the occasion of Zadar County Day, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović took questions from reporters who wanted to know about the President’s position on the initiative of five generals, i.e. the letter requesting the pardon of Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač. “I haven’t read it yet, it surprised me, and it’s complicating my life. But the names of the signatories mean something. And now they’ve complicated their lives a little bit because I want to hear the broader story from these people. I did talk with some of them, with others I didn’t. This will take some time, no rush. But first the government reshuffle, because that is a serious precedent, not some decision of mine (on the pardon request). For my decision cannot be a precedent. One who knows what a precedent is will not use that word. A precedent is when something that is applied for the first time is just becoming a law, while this is the law and the Constitution. I haven’t used this (authority) so far and I’m not inclined to use it. The pardon story is very broad and there is time to make a decision. But the precedent is that the country is run by such a corrupt and eroded government. That is the precedent,” said the President of the Republic.

Responding to a question about the “unofficial” position of the HDZ that the initiative was orchestrated by the President and the Office of the President, he said: “If the Prime Minister says something, then it is not unofficial, it is very official. The leading HDZ politician said that and that is the official position of the HDZ – that I had agreed something with the generals. What an insult! That they are anyone’s pawns, that they are people without character or brains – that is what Plenković essentially said about Gotovina and them. That gang is leading us into a moral catastrophe. I have no other words (to describe) the political party with whose establishment Perković is credited.”

“In regard to (the former state security service) UDBA, I detest that topic. However, the HDZ has been stuck to UDBA like a chewing gum on the sidewalk of the Zagreb Central Station in the middle of the summer heat. There is no washing machine of the future that can wash that away. That stench has been coming from the HDZ for thirty years. I can now say that this is the HDZ and that all of these people are in the HDZ. Even Gotovina was in the HDZ for a short time because they forced him. And Čermak, and all of these people are HDZ,” President Milanović said.

Returning to the earlier question about the generals’ initiative to pardon Perković and Mustač, the President reiterated: “The fact that Perković is one of the co-founders of the HDZ is as far as I am concerned an aggravating circumstance. However, it is also a fact that he made some contribution during the war, that the Croatian judicial mafia first sent them to a foreign country instead of putting them on trial in Croatia, and now they are trying to destroy them in prison. Frankly, I don’t have any personal or career interest here. That letter is complicating my life. But there are some things you can’t run from. And I will not run. I don’t know if I will make a decision and what kind of decision I will make. I know what I’ve been saying and I know what I am thinking. I know I have a clear conscience.”

“Of course, first the government reshuffle. Enough lying. Let’s see this government reshuffle, at last. When someone is talking about serious precedents and doesn’t know what the word precedent means in legal jargon, let them look at themselves. It is a serious and dangerous precedent that such a gang is running Croatia. We have never had this. There were excuses during the war and it was the reason why things were like that. There were several incidents during Sanader’s time and Sanader was the ‘capital sin’. This is falling apart. What about the people under investigation? Will they resign or not? That is a dangerous precedent and a harassment of the Croatian state. And that is why I say to Perković and Mustač: if you are responsible for the establishment of the HDZ, it does not work in your favour,” concluded the President of the Republic.