A group of war veterans, who started a hunger strike in downtown Zagreb last Tuesday in protest against the verdict of the Hague war crimes tribunal against Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, will be received by Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic at 0930 hours Friday, it was announced on Thursday.
At present, nine war veterans are protesting in the central square, asking that the government and parliament immediately stop their unconditional cooperation with the Hague tribunal and withdraw the request for EU membership.
They also demand that the amnesty for "20,000 Serb terrorists" be reversed and Croatian generals and war veterans be immediately released from prisons in the country and abroad.
The hunger-striking veterans said they had the support of many citizens, adding that they had collected over 10,000 signatures.
They also said they would continue the campaign indefinitely.
The Hague tribunal on April 15 sentenced General Gotovina to 24 years in prison pending appeal, while General Markac was sentenced to 18 years in prison for war crimes committed in the 1995 Operation Storm. A third defendant in the case, General Ivan Cermak, was acquitted.
