by Hrvoje PRNJAK
Namely, the Police came after a call from the owner of the space, the Serb Orthodox Church, because certain Stipe Penava had illegally broken into and entered the building.
"When we noticed that the building had been broken into and that the lock had been changed, we immediately got another lock, knowing well from experience that if we relied on the efficiency and speed of the judiciary, we would never regain control of that commercial space. Then we were informed that a bomb was placed inside the building and that we would be blown up! We called the Police and fortunately they found out that there was no bomb there," says Jovan Grknic a lawyer and a member of the Administration of the Serb Orthodox Parish (SPCO) in Split.
"I was especially shocked that the passers by joined in with their own threats, creating atmosphere conducive to lynch. Suddenly, we were forced to prove that we owned that space," says Grknic, wondering what is going on with the city in which he grew up and, as he says, spent most of his life without any problems.
The removal of the plaque with the name of the Serb Orthodox Church above the entrance door in Obrovo (near the fishmonger's), which took place four days after the break in to the nearby commercial space only feeds into Zorica fear. "I do not fear for my own safety, but I fear for the faithful, who as of recently have started avoiding coming to our improvised church, obviously fearing that that would 'brand' them. As a Christian believer, I find that extremely sad."
Judging by the way he told us that no one from the Split Catholic Church has contacted him in connection with the recent incidents, it seems that Zoric more than any of the experienced inconvenience sincerely regrets renewed withdrawal of Christian values in front of other, so-called higher interests.
"Today people increasingly declaratively refer to Christian values. The problems we had are yet another indication of that, in addition to the behavior of many Catholic and Orthodox believers. It has been written: woe to us when evil becomes good and good evil!," Zorica adds. He had the following message for all believers: "Society cannot be based on intolerance!"
Respect for differences, especially religious differences is a true test of the democratic character of any society. According to Miroslav Bogdanovic president of the non-governmental organization Civic Resistance to Violence and Terror (GON), the public in Split can hardly pass that test today.
"It is shameful that even today such things take place in Croatia! It seems that some things, and I am above all referring to the judicial processing of similar incidents, have not changed with respect to the HDZ rule. Besides, how could they? The Croatian judiciary is still dominated by the judges appointed by the HDZ!," says Bogdanovic, adding that together with the non-governmental organizations CERD and Altruist his organization will inform the relevant European institutions about the status of the Serb Orthodox Church in Split. Perhaps the international public, unlike the local public obviously jaded and accustomed to all sorts of violations of human rights, will be concerned about the information that some members of the administration of the SPCO have been receiving anonymous threats these days.
However, that is not the end of the list of problems faced by the representatives of the Serb Orthodox Church in Split. In recent years they have obviously become a desirable object for playing out wartime and other frustrations of individuals who saw exactly in the representatives of the church the embodiment of the "enemy". Some members of that "front" were not satisfied by ordinary verbal abuse, insulting phone calls or writing of graffiti on the stairs of the SPCO. Namely, some of them decided to occupy apartments owned by the SPC. Out of five apartments owned by the SPC in Split, as many as three are illegally occupied, with obvious blessing of the local authorities. Otherwise, how would the illegal tenants get electricity and phone, wonder the representatives of the SPC?
"In addition to those six commercial spaces, we also had two that should again become our property in the process of restitution of nationalized property," says Grknic. According to him suits in which the SPC is demanding eviction of illegal "tenants" are deliberately obstructed. One indication of that is the fact that in one suit, against a trader who hasn't been paying rent for the commercial space she has been using, only two hearings have been held in six years!
"It seems that former president of the Municipal Court in Split Ante Saric, and lawyer Miroslav Saric, respectively, are behind everything. They guaranteed to us through an intermediary that they would quickly conclude all of our suits if we put them in charge of all our commercial space," claims Grknic. "As we refused, after that not a single suit we filed for the return of our property has been concluded!"
As the SPC cannot count on the rent for the use of its commercial space, it is not surprising that the religious ceremonies are held in a seedy room with a leaking roof, which simply cries for attention of a bricklayer or a painter. Parish priest Zorica lives in a penthouse that also has a leaky roof, and the completion of St. Sava church, whose construction was started in 1939 is within the realm of dreams.
The relations of the representatives of the SPC with their neighbors who have illegally occupied apartments owned by the church are another issue. Although parish priest Zorica is reluctant to talk about that, he did mention that frequently dogs are released on the gathered believers and that garbage is frequently dumped in front of the door of the SPCO administration.
Besides, is any of this surprising? In the country which mostly silently ignores the use of the name of a whole nation (Serbs) as an expletive, nothing better is to be expected.