The aim of the charges pressed against Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader Vojislav Stanimirovic by journalist Karolina Vidovic Kristo, historian Josip Jurcevic and lawyer Zvonimir Hodak for war crimes is to prevent him and the SDSS from equal activity as guaranteed by the Constitution and the law, the SDSS Main Committee concluded in Vukovar on Saturday.
Advocating collective guilt, failing to respect judicial bodies' decisions and organising a campaign to collect evidence, as in Stanimirovic's case, is worrisome and disturbing and it seriously undermines the constitutional and legal rights of ethnic Serbs, the SDSS said in a statement.
It added that "accusations of dishonorable acts of war crime are being fabricated against (Stanimirovic) although relevant state bodies have found no grounds on a number of occasions."
The party expects relevant state bodies and parliament to deal with the latest criminal complaint to stop the "destructive and disgraceful consequences (such campaigns) have on prominent members of the Serb community, our organisations and our position in Croatian society," said the statement.
The criminal complaint was filed at the Osijek County Prosecutor's Office on Friday, including locations, descriptions of war crimes and names of several witnesses.
Several criminal complaints have been filed against Stanimirovic for war crimes committed in Vukovar and Tovarnik in 1991 and 1992. However, the prosecution has found no reasonable grounds to suspect him of those crimes.
