Mr.

Roman Latkovic, one of the most courageous Croatian journalists was forced to leave Croatia
because of his outspoken but truthful description of the dismal Croatian leadership, politics and
economy. Because of his writings, both he and his family were attacked both physically and verbally
in the Croatian government controlled media. The following article was one of his most memorable
ones, and the one that started his persecution by the HDZ cronies.
My apologies to Mr. Latkovic for this unauthorized translation, but even more for (probably) not
doing justice to his wonderful writing style and the inability to convey his meaning in English as well
as he has done in Croatian.
Stjepan Balog
---------------------------------------------------------By Roman Latkovic:
"TUDJMAN HAS DEFINITELY SHOWN THAT HE IS A BRUTAL DICTATOR"
"Novi List," January 8, 1996.
Above the title: No one has the right to further accept the rule of evil.
The subtitle text: This past year, in which even those who blindly believed the media's lies factories
and to the omnipresent president must have finally awakened (and now see the repulsive and
degrading truth), and in that year, although it has been clear for a long, long time, finally a critical
mass was reached that is showing what Croatia must do in this new (year)!
The Parliament, The Constitutional court, the opposition, the free thinking people, the free and
independent media, all must do everything to REMOVE Franjo Tudjman from power. By the way of
early elections, by a decision of the Constitutional court, by a decision of the Croatian Parliament,
any way possible, because Tudjman is leading us in to ruin!
Behind his back hide all the miserable black marketers, war profiteers and all the human trash
which is benefiting by the fact that they can do anything they want under his protection. They are
humiliating us, robbing us, deceiving us, burying us and mocking us, while with one hand holding
their foreign passports and holding "piously" and hypocritically the other hand on their hearts (when
singing Croatian anthem) hiding the middle finger which they are really showing us.
Long time ago during the Middle Ages, the Inquisition burned a Dominican ecclesiastic, Savanarola,
because among others, to them he was a bearer of bad prophecy. But conjecture, suspicions, fears
and hopes have their basis and foundations throughout the history. Even though the teacher of
Alexander the Great, the Greek philosopher Aristotle, was teaching that the time passage brings us
the future, and is defined by that, and that the time flows not from our past towards future, but just
the opposite, despite that, we project our lives, and the life of our homeland, in the future.
In it, in this one word - future - lies the answer to all of the Croatian questions. Rhett Butler, in the
magnificent Hollywood movie "Gone With the Wind," tells that the South must accept the fact that it

is loosing its past to which it has gotten used to. So also Croatia, MUST, at once, at last and finally
accept the fact that the past is an unending source for scientists, a part of the general education, a
subject in schools, but under no circumstances can it be the one and only definition of the present,
and that past can be a hindrance for the future.
That is why injecting, during the recent New Year's holidays, a hope for the Croatia's tomorrow is
nothing more (or less) than sustaining the hypocrisy and fraud within which Croats have lived for
some time now. The hypocrisy of the Erdut, Dayton, Paris and many other agreements, which will
continue to be used to smear wool over our eyes, because the ending of fighting is still something of
the utmost importance in the lives of people marked with sufferings of the war, while the Croatian
ruling political caste/party, the HDZ, will shamelessly continue to abuse that desire for peace in the
dirtiest and the most brutal way we can possibly imagine. Using the same methods which it used in
the years past, when it used LIES, DECEIT, and by trading with Croatia's mortal enemy our sufferings,
our tears, even our very Croatian entity, our deaths, our disfigurements, our tragedies, they
manipulated and misused Croatia's Golgotha only and exclusively for their own benefit.
Croatia was just an alibi, Croatian name, history and lives were the simplest, most vulgar excuse so
that our beloved Croatia can be shamelessly and grotesquely plundered and humiliated at every
step. To lower itself to same unbelievable level of the fascist Serbia. That is why today Serbia had its
sanctions lifted by the U.N. while Croatia is being forced to annul its decisions (which also happens
to be unconstitutional, as are many other things in today's Croatia) in regards to the repatriation of
its citizens. That is why we must not accept the lies, frauds and deceptions. If the "Butcher of the
Balkans," Milosevic, was a true picture of the evil which was brought on by the revived Fascism to
this cursed, blood soaked Balkan mud, then the Croatian tragedy is drawn in his, Milosevic's, bad
mirror image, in the man that the world considers to be the "butchers apprentice," in the
Croatian president, Franjo Tudjman.
THE FINAL DISCOVERY
One doesn't need to be a Croatian Savanarola in order to see that Croatia with Tudjman is rushing in
to a dictatorial creation, a banana republic, with Mafia overtones, and that it is transforming in to a
nightmare for all those who dreamed about free and independent Croatia. A nightmare for all those
who were creating that dream, by giving their lives on the battlefield during the war of liberation, by
suffering in the communist prisons for the dream of a free Croatia during the existence and deceit
of Yugoslavia. For all these longing and dying for Croatia during their years of expulsion, by Serbian
terror in former Yugoslavias, all over the world. If this past year is going to be remembered for
anything, it will be for the final, definite and unshakable confirmation of Dr. Franjo Tudjman as the
man who is leading Croatia in to a total devastation. With Tudjman, Croatia will be a cursed land,
from which all those capable will be running away, even if they had to wash the dishes in London,
Hamburg or on a ship, anywhere, because even that will be better than being beaten because of a
different opinion (only beaten -if you are lucky). With Tudjman at the helm, his entourage
of lackeys and thieves will grow into such a force that our Croatia will be placed in a grip so powerful
that tomorrow we will have to bow to Serbia's Fascist leader (Milosevic), Tudjman's main ally, and
welcome and salute his murderers. While the butchered heroes of the sacred Vukovar lie for the
fifth year in mass graves, being traded for the "republic" of Herzeg-Bosnia and butchery of Bosnia
Moslems there. Yet they died for Croatia's freedom, my freedom included.

In 1995, Dr. Franjo Tudjman admitted dealing with not only the Croatian territory, but also the
territory of Bosnia and Hercegovina.
In that same year, Dr. Tudjman mocked and made fun of the retirees, telling them, at the height of
cynicism, which is not foreign to him, that his wife, Ankica tells him "he can't pay for his own utilities
and heat." Last year, from among the huge number of his lackeys, he chose as the keeper of the
state's seal, his own Dorian Gray, mentally debilitated human caricature Ivan Milas ("Posavina
hunger, which doesn't exist", "the exodus of Croatian intellectual brains worth two German
marks hence irrelevant", and about "Europe which we don't need".
Last year, the president of Croatia broke his given promises ("Christmas in Vukovar, " "no
normalization's of relation with Serbia until it recognizes Croatia," .... remembering all of
his broken promises brings desperation and disgust) and that year, by audacity worthy of Goebels,
Tudjman promoted the LIE as part of his own politics. According to Tudjman, the world is
"marveling" at us, yet German Chancellor Mr. Helmuth Kohl took of his earphones during Tudjmans
"Dayton" speech, not being able to withstand Tudjmans useless pseudo-historical ramblings. Last
year, during which Tudjman had shown that he considers Croatia to be his own fiefdom, within
which he can do as he pleases, he allowed himself the unheard of and incomprehensibly brazen
statement of insulting another nation and a state, Bosnia, saying that HE will transform it into a
civilized and cultured nation.
Unheard of insult and stupidity!!!! That was the year (may such a year never repeat it self) that
Tudjman insulted the entire world community including the International Court in Hague when he
gave a protection to an accused war criminal, who was actually a soldier in another country
(Bosnia).
In the same cursed year, he insulted the Croatian history, the same history that he is constantly
changing and re-interpreting it in ways to suit his mediocre himself, insulting the "Croatian Spring"
(the 1971 attempt by Croatians to gain more freedom), these years of tears, sweat and blood, by
not even showing a cursory respect for the death of Mike Tripalo (a Croatian incorruptible patriot
that "dared" to criticize Tudjman's incompetence and corruption).
HORRIBLE AND HUMILIATING TO CROATIA
A lot of hate is needed towards a great man Tripalo, who fought for Croatia while you (Tudjman)
were hiding in the shadows, that you didn't even say a few appropriate words to accompany
him in his eternal rest. And really, 1995 was the year in which Franjo Tudjman showed his teeth to
the "Bad Blue Boys," (fans of the soccer club "Dinamo" and early defenders of Croatia, who keep
protesting "Dinamo" name change; Tudjman decided to change it) who saved Croatia and called
them "Serbian agents (what a brazen insult). This was also the year in which Tudjman placed the
entire Croatian opposition on the same level as the Belgrade's murderer, Borislav Jovic, using his
words to insult the Croatian opposition. Tudjman quoted a murderer of his (Croatian)
children/citizens in order to attack at the place of our sadness and hurt. Horrible and very hard to
believe.

Terrible events for Croatia. Humiliating. With all of that, that cursed year of 1995, that is called a
"triumphant" year by the ruling mobsters, Franjo Tudjman definitely had shown what he
really is, a BRUTAL DICTATOR.
The subtitle text: This past year, in which even those who blindly believed the media's lies factories
and to the omnipresent president must have finally awakened (and now see the repulsive and
degrading truth), and in that year, although it has been clear for a long, long time, finally a critical
mass was reached that is showing what Croatia must do in this new (year)!
The Parliament, The Constitutional court, the opposition, the free thinking people, the free and
independent media, all must do everything to REMOVE Franjo Tudjman from power. By the way of
early elections, by a decision of the Constitutional court, by a decision of the Croatian
Parliament, any way possible, because Tudjman is leading us in to ruin!

Behind his back hide all the miserable black marketers, war profiters and all the human trash which
is benefiting by the fact that they can do anything they want under his protection. They are
humiliating us, robbing us, deceiving us, burying us and mocking us, while with one hand holding
their foreign passports and holding "piously" and hipocritically the other hand on their hearts (when
singing Croatian anthem) hiding the middle finger which they are really showing us.
EXIT FROM THE HISTORICAL SCENE
We have entered the year in which Tudjman MUST be removed from the historical scene which is so
dear to him, because that scene, when Croatia is in question, will deface it to the end, so that no
one, not the NATO nor America, nor all their plastic surgeons will be able to save us. The opposition
and the Croatian people can not any longer be fooled by some transfers within the HDZ. Let's not
fool ourselves with some of the Pasalic's lies or any of the (Ljilja) Vokic's vile stupidities. We must not
accept the dust thrown in our eyes due to seemingly ended Rijeka's regional crisis, and we must
not succumb to the Zagreb's attempt to obviously introduce dictatorship (the attempt which still
isn't over, since Tudjman still must recognize and confirm the election of Granic and Tomac).
It is clear to the liars and to the thieves that in order for all the corruption to continue, the Tudjmans
shadow is needed - to hide behind. And in that shadow, Croatia will fall into a darkness. A black
darkness full of fear. Nights in which we will like thieves steal into "sun of foreign sky/countries", but
the terrible night will follow us, wherever we are, the night will be horrible, because it will become a
part of our homeland and a part of ourselves, a night which will bring to our lives an eternal oldness
and constant terror. And the name of all this fear and coldness, of the loss of hope and of the
terror, the hopelessness and the despair is Franjo Tudjman, a mediocre historian who wrote his evil
historical destination ('usud" - a word play on Tudjman's convoluted book) during the 1995.
No one has the right to accept this evil fate any longer, fate which is infesting and spreading
throughout our land until we completely pollute it and in that horrible infection loose it forever.
By: Mr. Roman Latkovic
Translation by Stjepan Balog