"It's intolerable that Croatian veterans are being prosecuted while the other side has been amnestied. They live freely in Croatia and they committed crimes against its citizens," Srb told a news conference in Virovitica.

The president of the HSP branch in Virovitica-Podravina County, Zvonimir Simic, said that the HSP would ask the county prosecutor's office to say why proceedings had not been launched against 140 members of the Yugoslav People's Army and Serb paramilitaries who in 1991 took part in the worst atrocity in the county. "In September 1991, 22 civilians and two police officers were killed in the villages of Cetekovac, Balinci and Cojlug, and in December that year 43 Croats, mostly civilians, were massacred in Vocin. No one has answered yet for these horrible crimes and the HSP is in possession of a list with the names of the war criminals and witness statements which it will send to the prosecutor's office," Simic said.

Srb reiterated that the HSP would insist on the adoption of a law that would protect Croatian veterans so "that they are no longer in a less favourable position than the aggressors."

"The Office of the State Prosecutor and the government are not interested in the prosecution of war crimes mainly because of the key partner in the coalition government - the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), whose members took part in the military aggression against Croatia and are today senior political officials," said Srb.

The case of veteran Tihomir Purda, arrested in Bosnia two weeks ago on war crimes charges filed against him by Serbian authorities, is a bilateral issue between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, and the Office of the Serbian State Prosecutor has no jurisdiction over events that occurred in Croatia, Srb said.