Zadar, (IKA) – What did Archbishop Ivan Prenđa of Zadar say in the document which was presented by General Ante Gotovina’s defense during the opening statement? “It is our duty to be united with the generals in prayer and thought and to provide them with the spiritual support to endure these difficulties. In this world, it is not a simple matter to determine the measure of what someone must endure, the measure of justice, which should be according to what each person merits. However, at the current time, which is not simple, we as believers are aware that we can be at peace before God when we do what we could do,” said the archbishop of Zadar, and explained the reasons why he consented to provide a statement in defense of General Gotovina and the basis for the positions he presented. His statement in defense of the general was based upon the archbishop’s personal acquaintance with him during the war.

“I felt that I had the obligation to say quite openly that first, I have not, nor has anyone, I believe, in Croatian public life, accepted the formulation of The Hague prosecution that what was done during wartime, with the goal of liberating and uniting the Croatian state, was a joint criminal undertaking. This is unacceptable for many reasons because the reality is totally otherwise. What the generals did was to fulfill the powerful aspiration of a nation, authorities and a state to liberate territories that were being occupied and ethnically cleansed. Therefore, our generals and combatants who had the task of conducting war operations merit great recognition because they made a permanent contribution to the freedom of their country and later to the development that demonstrates that a free state can build its future. Second, if The Hague court is a genuine and objective court, and it should be thus (and not a political court, and I fear that it could be a political court with the intention of equating the guilt of the aggressor and those who were attacked, harmed and killed), then I forecast a positive result of the trial and the release of the indicted generals. A genuine court that seeks arguments will find that the defense of the homeland and the operations for its unification are ethically justified; that this act was legal and performed in a military manner, in compliance with the International Rules of Warfare. Third, I said that in my judgment the defense of the general and the Croatian Government are obligated to provide all the available evidence for the benefit of the general, everything that would reflect the atmosphere and commands during the time when the operations were conducted. If there were any crimes whatsoever, let them be proven and processed objectively. No one, including the Croatian generals, is trying to avoid this. This is how it should be for the objective and moral reasons to which we refer in what is called warfare. If matters are presented in this manner, the defense and the generals have the prospect that the indictment could be dropped and they could be freed from these accusations,” said Msgr. Prenđa.

In August 2007, the archbishop furnished a guarantee in order for the general to be released while awaiting the beginning of his trial. “When the general asked me to do this last year so that he could await trial in freedom, I told him that I was prepared say what I had said on the occasion when he invited me to speak to officers on ethics in war. This was in 1993, during the time of the preparation of the Maslenica operation that liberated the southern part of Croatia. I wanted to testify that General Gotovina personally invited me to speak before the operation participants about what must be adhered to according to Christian ethical principles. I held this conference and said that the liberation of the homeland was the Croatian soldiers’ sacred duty. It is necessary to adhere to ethics in military operations, which are also required during war campaigns. I said that it is not ethical to rape, harm or kill civilians and those whom the soldiers encounter, or to drive them from their homes, and that soldiers were obligated to adhere to these principles, liberate the homeland, but to know that there are rules of behavior. When I finished this lecture, General Gotovina said to me: ‘It was very important to me that you said this to our officers because they will lead the operations. I shall try to make sure that we follow it.’ On subsequent occasions when I met the general at our Archbishop’s residence during holidays, he said: ‘On many occasions, what I heard from you has been very useful to me but also to my officers.’ I was prepared to say this in public. This document exists. the written lecture that I delivered was preserved in writing. I possess this document today in its original form,” said Archbishop Prenđa.

In response to a question about whether he had doubts about providing his testimony for the benefit of General Gotovina, as a bishop, a member of the Church hierarchy, how he felt coming forward with his statement to The Hague institution, Msgr. Prenđa said: “I never thought that it would be necessary to do this. It is my profound conviction that General Gotovina sincerely invited me to tell people about the Christian attitude toward ethics in war and peace, that he sincerely thought this and that he truly wanted to do this for his officers. I never thought that this truth should not be stated. … However, we always assume that the court seeks the truth and that this truth should be stated; that the main law is to tell the truth. It must be said on behalf of a person who was indeed capable of summoning persons to a conference held by a Catholic bishop. Since this must be said before the public, media and everyone else, if necessary orally, then the bishop who said this and who has before himself specific people who were prepared to listen, with questions and answers, then it must be said, even orally, before any institution whatsoever of this world. I never thought about why I should have to say this but felt the promptings of my conscience that I must say it. This was the reason for my activity and totally open statements about what the general sought and what, in my judgment, General Gotovina adhered to during the events of the war.” The archbishop also emphasizes that it is unjust to equate the aggression that oppressed our country for years and individual incidents. “I also feel that it is the task of the international and general law, courts and all the institutions that want the truth and fair judgments to differentiate between the aggressor and the objects of attack who are defending themselves. We are aware that it is possible to cross the limits of what is permitted in defense. However, this cannot be equated with that which caused misfortunate and provoked a disproportionate reaction. It is my profound conviction that what happened individually was not systematic and was not established as an organized goal, as was asserted, but occurred on an individual basis. This is the great difference between what was done according to a plan, to ethnically cleanse a territory, to destroy what was considered sacred, to humiliate a nation and tear apart the land and the state, from what can always occur on an individual basis. Today we are living at a time in which we do not have a state of war but we have, unfortunately, the crimes of terrorism, family violence and other things that individuals do. This is a person. However, we must always differentiate between that which must be differentiated, and we must not confuse those things which must be differentiated. That is my position.”

Bearing in mind the grueling trial, Msgr. Prenđa had the following message for the Croatian generals: “Our generals are certainly in a grave psychological state, under great pressure and far from their families. I would like to say to them that under such conditions, it is necessary to have faith in the truth, in the truth that they represented and what they did. It is necessary to have confidence in what they did in the best of conscience, for the good of the homeland and our freedom. Finally, they must have faith in the final judgment of God’s court and that the conscience that we have within us is the measure before God of what we have done. Much is inaccessible and unknown to people. Many judge tendentiously and can condemn but a person knows what is before God. God knows our consciences and the depths of what we bear in our hearts. I should like to urge the generals to be brave for this time of uncertainty and difficulties will pass. I believe that it will nevertheless be proven that they did what they did in the correct manner, that what they are enduring now is again being invested for the good of the homeland, and that they can maintain their honor and be proud of what they have suffered and accomplished. From the other side, I think that they are not alone and that our Croatian public is with them because we are aware that our homeland is indebted to them.”