Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said on Friday that the proceedings underway before a Belgrade court to clear the name of Draza Mihailovic, the leader of the Serb Chetnik movement who collaborated with the Axis powers in World War Two, was detrimental and contrary to historical facts.
"Draza Mihailovic is a war criminal, and the Chetnik movement is a criminal Quisling movement," Josipovic said. "I can remember many cases in which Chetniks took part, not by fighting on the anti-fascist side, but by taking part in battles together with the Germans, Italians and the Ustasha against the Partisans. I can recall the cases of the Chetniks having slaughtered civilians, even here in Croatia, whereby Serbs were also killed by the Chetniks," Josipovic said.
"One thing is certain, this process, should it end the way media are announcing, but let us wait until is over - will mean a huge step back in relation to the World War Two and the anti-fascist movement," Josipovic said.
Asked if he could see an internal political dimension in the whole case involving the rehabilitation of Mihailovic, given the coming elections in Serbia, Josipovic said he could not say whether or not this was the case, adding that to him, this was important as a phenomenon.
