storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

weapons and guaranteed amnesty pursuant to Croatian laws. All persons who had not
committed any war crimes during the rebellion were urged to remain at home and
expect Croatian authorities without any fear. 539 Some people believe that the message
was not sincere 540 , and refer in most cases to the Brijuni transcript as proof. However,
that particular transcript, as well as others occasionally released in public, can be refuted
with other transcripts - which, of course, have not been published. Th us, in one of the
transcripts, recorded in November 1991, a few days before the fall and the occupation
of Vukovar, in a serious and agonizing stage of the war, with no end in sight, Franjo
Tuđman said, in a discussion on extremist behaviour in Croatia, that he opposed all
ideas according to which “no Serb should remain in Croatia”. 541 Why should he have
changed his mind on the eve of victory? Aft er all, available sources also demonstrate that
the Croatian side did not plan and implement the banishment of the rebel Serbs. 542
Serbian refugee column
539 “Kronologija rata 1989.-1998.” (Chronology of the War 1989-1998), Hrvatski informativni centar, Zagreb, 1998, 504.
540 Cf. N. Barić, “Je li 1995. godine Hrvatska počinila ‘etničko čišćenje’ Srba?” (Did Croatia Carry out ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
of the Serbs in 1995?), 442-443.
541 Minutes of the meeting held in the Offi ce of the President of the Republic on Th ursday, 14 November 1991.
542 N. Barić, “Je li 1995. godine Hrvatska počinila ‘etničko čišćenje’ Srba?” (Did Croatia Carry out ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of
the Serbs in 1995?), 461.
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