CROATIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION
AND ADVANCEMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
SPEECH BY THE SOCIETY’S PRESIDENT, NIKOLA MUSLIM
At the protest meeting before the U.S. Embassy, October 19, 2002.
Organized for the release of ZVONKO BUŠIĆ from a U.S. prison.
Zagreb, October 16, 2002.
Respected residents of Zagreb, citizens of the Republic of Croatia, dear friends:
The Croatian Society for the Protection and Advancement of Human Rights is a non-partisan, non-political, non-governmental and non-profit NGO, founded in 1989 as the first legal society for the protection of human rights in the Republic of Croatia and in south-eastern Europe. It is accredited by the United Nations and is involved in the case of Mr. Zvonko Bušić, with respect to his life, release, and continuing incarceration in the U.S.A.
As you may be aware, ZVONKO BUŠIĆ was jailed in 1976 and has spent nearly 27 years of imprisonment in a U.S. prison.
This fact was and is still vital for us in regard to the issue of human rights. Namely, the question that has been and continues to be asked is the purpose of this sentence in the context of human life; at the same time, we must consider the relation of the individual towards the acts committed. What is also important here are all the related circumstances, and all that has been undertaken to date in the struggle for the protection of the life and health of Mr. Zvonko Bušić.
Respected fellow citizens and dear friends:
We members of the Croatian Association have examined the court documentation, and are taking into consideration all related circumstances, because it is well known that a sentence is passed based on the principle of REBUS SIC SANTIBUS, (a clause of changeable circumstances, whereby termination or suspension of the sentence is upheld in the event of any change in the facts and conditions of the original state existing at the time of the charge.) And this was our starting point with the sentence of Mr. Zvonko Bušić.
Based upon sentencing remarks by his judge, Zvonko Bušić was not considered to be a terrorist. He simply does not have this status. From the ruling one can conclude that with the hijacking of a plane it was Mr. Zvonko Bušić’s intention to bring the world’s attention to the ruthless violation of human rights against Croatians and to the situation of his Croatian homeland within the disintegrated state of Yugoslavia.
A second important legal fact is the recommendation made on the part of the Honorable Judge John Bartels, who, in the proceedings for Bušić, recommended a conditional release following the serving of the prison sentence of ten (10) years. A second judge, the Honorable Judge Gerard Goettel, upholding the letter of the American legal and sentencing system, took a similar view.
Zvonko Bušić has been serving this sentence for the past 27 years and today is certainly a prisoner with one of the lengthiest prison terms in the U.S., which makes this case a precedent in itself in America and the world.
Respected and dear fellow citizens and friends gathered here:
We must ask ourselves why a precedent was created for Zvonko Bušić in the American criminal justice system? A case and precedent was created for Zvonko Bušić and for his imprisonment. Zvonko Bušić has been in a U.S. jail for 27 years. This is a precedent. Why?
I hold that politics has interjected itself into the case of Zvonko Bušić. When politics becomes involved, when it enters the scene, justice flies out the window. This is what happened in this case. This is the truth about the tragic fate of Zvonko Bušić and all who are sympathetic to his case and share the distress of his imprisonment behind prison walls.
Friends:
Allow me to attempt to expose the political baggage concerning the case and precedent of Zvonko Bušić.
First, the former Yugoslavia saw in Zvonko Bušić’s act an attempt to portray Yugoslavia as a “prison of nations”. Its political view was conveyed to the United States State Department. The State Department followed the wishes of the Yugoslav authorities (per Evan Kemp, former EEOC Commissioner). As is well known, America supported the former Yugoslavia, and its supporters continue to occupy positions in some bodies of the American administration. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in his May 3, 1996 letter to the then President of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tudjman, substantiated this political position and relation in the United States towards the case of Zvonko Bušić. This is indeed the case, and remains as such on the political level as far as the U.S. is concerned!
Secondly, there is the outcry of his wife, the esteemed Julienne Bušić who, after serving a 13 year jail term for the same act that her husband was jailed for, was released. The echo of the pleas by Mrs. Bušić have spread throughout the world, and we are gathered here today thanks to her bravery, courage, and persistence. She makes a strong impression and creates an aura of human freedom, and for this reason unites and motivates people in a mutual effort for the release of her husband. As a sign of support, I ask that we all give Mrs. Julie Bušić a round of applause.
Finally, dear friends, after the first free elections in 1990 and the tragic war into which the Croatian people were forced, and following the resurrection of the country of Croatia, the case of the imprisonment of Zvonko Bušić in the far-off U.S. has become a challenge unto itself.
As an independent nation, the Republic of Croatia reached an agreement with the United States regarding the transfer of prisoners. The entire Croatian government became involved with the case of Zvonko Bušić. The then President of Croatia, dr. Franjo Tudjman, wrote to the former U.S. President Clinton on January 30, 1996. Six coalition parties, while they were still members of the opposition, sent the former U.S. Secretary of State Mrs. Madeline Albright a letter dated September 22, 1999. The letter was signed by Dražen Budiša, Ivica Račan, Zlatko Tomčić, Vlado Gotovac, and Ivan Jakovčić. American Croatians vigorously supported the political consensus in the case of Zvonko Bušić. They wrote to former President Clinton on November 20, 2000. The letter was written in the name of the 5 largest Croatian-American organizations: the Croatian Fraternal Union, the Croatian Catholic Union, the National Federation of Croatian Americans, the Croatian-American Association, and the Croatian American Congress and was signed by: Bernard Luketić, Steve Rukavina, Anthony Peraica, Melchior Masina, and Frank Brozovich. American Croatians hold that their efforts have been denigrated, and those who signed a petition in Croatia supporting Bušić’s release, and which contained 200,000 signatures, feel the same way.
Dear fellow citizens:
I interpret this demonstration, this impressive gathering, as a sign of agreement on a state and national level, that the work and efforts to release Zvonko Bušić must be intensified and that his conditional release from prison in the U.S. be realized. I hope that I am expressing the views of everyone here that there is no one in the Republic of Croatia, not one Croatian citizen, who would not be prepared to support the request for the release of Zvonko Bušić. I would like to say this openly here and I trust that our American friends will hear this.
Friends,
The Croatian Society for the Protection and Advancement of Human Rights does not wish to become involved in political squabbles, but the political issues here could not be avoided, because it was politics that influenced decisions in the case of Zvonko Bušić.
Those of us who are involved with human rights issues in the Republic of Croatia, as far back as 1994, created safeguards in order to shield ourselves from petty politics and political interests. We advanced in our efforts to an international level. It is for this reason that we assume the right to speak in this manner. It is politics which is responsible for the continuing imprisonment of Zvonko Bušić. Unfortunately, politics is power. It can destroy a man, destroy a life, make a tragedy of the world and lead to nihilism. I am trying to keep things simple here, because I want to wage this struggle for Bušić on a legal basis and on the criteria of human rights. I have always believed in justice. I have stood helpless before the courts and defended my clients, even when things appeared absurd or dangerous. Nevertheless, life has confirmed that justice is attainable and possible. I also feel this way toward the case of the prisoner Zvonko Bušić. I honestly and deeply believe that Zvonko Bušić, within a reasonable time period, will once again obtain freedom after 27 years. In the meantime, his Croatian homeland has gained nationhood and sovereignty, and it is now time for all of us to assist in his release. I would ask all of you to make oral and written proposals, write and be active, because only in this way will we overcome this nightmare, this feeling of injustice that we, as human beings and citizens of Croatia, experience towards the case of Zvonko Bušić and his 27 years of imprisonment.
And finally friends:
You are witnesses to the fact that I have not said anything in particular about the governing political decisions of the U.S. with respect to the case of Zvonko Bušić.
Sirs, former U.S. President Clinton stated that the transfer or release of Zvonko Bušić would have a harmful influence on public confidence in the American justice system. This was stated on May 3, 1996, more than six and a half years ago. It is obvious that this position continues to hold true in the United States. Our view is that we must help change this U.S. political position. If we do not succeed, then political and legal analyses will be powerless.
Will we criticize politics in the United States here? I am not a politician and am not prepared to embark on this path. Briefly, we can mention here that the case and tragic fate of Zvonko Bušić, with a precedent of 27 years of imprisonment, casts a terrible shadow on the work of some bodies of the American administration. I think the case threatens the value that America has given the world in the area of freedom and human rights. We see that this case, and the sentence of Zvonko Bušić and his 27 year long imprisonment, work against the U.S. in the global and European public sphere. We sincerely hope that the U.S. government, in light of these new circumstances, will reexamine its political decision and consider Croatia’s sensitivity. Millions of people, Croatians in the Republic of Croatia, in the United States, and throughout the world, feel deeply about this case. America is well-disposed towards the Republic of Croatia and its Croatian people.
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