"In 1948 there were no camps in the then Socialist Republic of Croatia, there existed penal institutions," said Manolic, who used to be a high-ranking officer of the Socialist Yugoslav secret agency (OZNA).

In response to a statement made by university professor Ivo Banac about crimes committed by the Communists in the wake of the Second World War, Manolic said that Banac should know differences between concentration camps and penal institutions.

Manolic said that in the wake of the Second World War, OZNA was tasked with combing the ground in search of criminals who were brought to courts.

Asked by the news broadcast host how come bodies of women and children were found in graves of those who were killed at that time, Manolic said that "somewhere this may be found, but it remains to be seen".

Noting that 70 years had passed since then, Manolic said that Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko will "have a difficult task to establish that".

Interior Minister Karamarko recently said investigations and trials for Communist crimes would be stepped up. The filing of indictments for WW2 crimes, primarily those committed by the Partisans, was announced by the 2001 government, but no case has come to trial.

According to Interior Ministry data, 741 graves in Croatia could contain the remains of people killed in World War Two and its aftermath.

Of the 741 locations in which remains could be found, 86 have been exhumed and examined in part since 1992. For the locations where exhumations have not been carried out, local police departments have submitted reports to county prosecutor's offices, which are expected to ask courts to order the exhumations, according to the Interior Ministry.

The highest number of graves, 26, have been discovered in the Macelj area in northern Croatia, hiding the remains of 1,163 people, including 23 members of the clergy. The police assume the area could hide about 130 mass graves with a total of 15,000 victims.