Zejko Glasnovic – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Zeljko Glasnovic – Dissecting Illegality of Croatian Elections 2020

October 25, 2020 by inavukic 13 Comments

When voter popularity for a Political Party desperately seeking to keep power, such as Croatian Democratic Union/HDZ in Croatia, hits the bottom of the barrel then electoral fraud is a possibility one cannot discount nor ignore. Democracy would have us believe and trust that elections are and must be free and fair, free of fraud and corruption in particular. We have seen and see electoral fraud almost everywhere; some get away with it, some do not. Post-communist countries such as Croatia have, like other former communist countries, seen electoral fraud being suppressed even though its shocking existence, and alleged existence, has regularly upset the voters to that point where voter turnout at elections is dismal. There is a prevalent view among voters in Croatia that goes something like this: “What’s the use of voting when we know that the results will be manipulated in favour of big parties…”.

In July 2020 elections for Representatives in the Croatian Parliament barely 17% of the total electorate voted in favour of HDZ amidst a low voter turnout in general. This meant that HDZ could, just, form a minority government in coalition with other minor parties. This also meant that the war for power meant that every single parliamentary seat was of crucial importance for HDZ. And now, I turn to the 11^th Electorate where three parliamentary seats in the Croatian Parliament are secured by the Constitution of the country. This is the special electorate for Croatian citizens living outside of Croatia; their voice within the Croatian Parliament. Every one of those seats was crucial for HDZ and even though, for example, retired General Zeljko Glasnovic, heading the List of Independent candidates for that electorate, some of which live abroad, received the largest number of preferential votes, he did not get in. Who got in were three candidates from the HDZ list on account of d’hondt method of vote distribution! But be that as it may, the election results announced for the 11^th Electorate hit the ground with widespread allegations of electoral fraud and desperate undertakings by HDZ to ensure all three seats go to it, otherwise it could not form a government, not even a minority one! Even with Croatian Electoral Commission using d’hondt’s method to allocate seats, retired General Zeljko Glasnovic was missing 11 votes to win a seat in Croatian Parliament outright, even though he received significantly higher number of preferential votes than any of the three HDZ candidates who whittled into the Parliamentary seats for the 11^th Electorate.

And so, for the first time in Croatia’s history from independence in 1991, from seceding from communist Yugoslav, we finally have in Croatia concrete measures being taken with view to inspecting the actual ballot papers from Bosnia and Herzegovina part of the 11^th Electorate and ascertaining upon hard evidence whether the allegations of electoral fraud are actually substantiated. Heading this process is retired General Zeljko Glasnovic, who has been a tireless advocate for decommunization of Croatia and that includes taking positive measures in attempts to stamp out electoral fraud.

According to the Press Release (see below) issued recently on behalf of retired General Zeljko Glasnovic several irregularities that irrefutably point to electoral fraud in at least two polling stations within the 11^th Electorate have been found. This fact is unacceptable and certainly points to illegalities in the July 2020 Elections in Croatia. How this will all pan out and whether the Croatian authorities will take this on board and do the right thing for democracy is yet to be seen.

Based on the above findings it seems obvious that at least in the 11^th Electorate Croatian General Elections 2020 were rigged. Manipulation of ballot papers appears to have given false election results and Croatian citizens living abroad have ended up without a representative in the Croatian Parliament of their choice!

Croatian people are convinced that corruption is widespread, including electoral fraud, and they all have stories to tell, either from their own experience or heard from others, including the media. They are frustrated because so little is being done about the situation, and because they feel helpless and see themselves as being played for fools. Many cynically believe that in order to get along they have to “play the game”— that “the System” compels them to do so. Hence, I, for one, am encouraged by this investigation into the alleged electoral fraud in Croatia by retired General Zeljko Glasnovic.

Below is the Press Release mentioned above translated into English:

“7 October 2020

On behalf of retired General Zeljko Glasnovic:

Press release regarding the illegality of the elections in 11th Constituency and illegality of the Croatian Parliament

The Head of the Independent List for the 11th Constituency (Zeljko Glasnovic) informs the Croatian and world public and the institutions of the Republic of Croatia and the EU that he has obtained irrefutable evidence that the elections for the 11^th Constituency in the last elections (July 2020) for the 10^th Assembly of the Croatian Parliament were illegal and that new elections for the Croatian Parliament must be called urgently.

Confirmed by the published General Elections results and as it is by now well-known, Zeljko Glasnovic, who headed the Independent List for the 11^th Constituency at July 2020 Parliamentary elections, ended up 11 votes short for an outright win of a mandate.

His Independent list No.10 promptly lodged objections and the State Electoral Commission (SEC/DIP) was informed of irregularities and in particular of irregularities at polling stations 26 (Mostar) and 34 (Livno). Namely, at polling station 26, 3,423 voters allegedly voted, which means that it took 25 seconds per voter to vote, which is almost impossible. At polling station 34, according to the statements of three members of the polling station committee, Zeljko Glasnovic’s independent list was denied 11 votes.

Unfortunately, all our objections were swiftly rejected.

Pursuant to the law on the Right to Access Information, soon after the elections and the official publication of the election results, we requested access to the entire documentation including the ballot papers.

Three persons, authorised by Zeljko Glasnovic, inspected the documentation on 23-25 September 2020, after which they processed the available documents.

Prior to the inspection, these three persons were received by the Vice President of the SEC/DIP, Ana Lovrin and others, and requested that an official record be kept of everything. However, such a request was denied. The inspection took place in the basement hallway. All available ballot boxes were found unsealed and opened, and ballot papers and other documentation from polling station 34 (Livno) were in piles on the table and the boxes were missing. When we asked why the boxes were opened and the documents taken out, the officials answered that they had to open them “to see what was inside”. We consider this to be illegal and took photographs of everything for the purposes of factual documentation.

During the inspection of boxes from the Mostar polling station No. 26, 5 invalid ballots were found among the valid ballots, namely ballot serial numbers: 033868, 034318, 034136, 034657 and 035184.

When inspecting the documentation with Livno polling station No. 34, the following irregularities were found:

box with unused leaflets serial numbers 15501 – 16000 (500 ballot papers) was found open although it should not have been opened and the said serial numbers were marked in blue and difficult to read;

by examining the contents of the box with unused ballot papers, it was found that among the unused ballot papers serial numbers from 15501 to 16000, 7 “inserted” ballots were found, which do not belong to that polling station or to that ballot box. Namely, numbers 089494 (found filed in place of serial number 016070), 089495 (found filed in place of serial number 016175), 089496 (slotted in where 016222 should have been), 089500 (slotted in where 016358 should have been), 089497 (slotted in where 016373 should have been), 089498 (slotted in where 016420 should have been), and 089499 (slotted in where 015011 should have been). The said ballot papers that were taken out of the unused ballot papers box and replaced by “other” ballot paper were found among the valid ballots (counted as valid by the SEC/DIP).

Among the valid ballots another “inserted” ballot paper from the 11^th Constituency, serial number 003829 was found.

It was further established that 9 ballot papers of serial numbers (015001 – 016500) were missing, namely ballot papers serial numbers 015115, 015179, 015362, 015542, 015747, 015786, 015854, 015887 and 015929.

the determined situation in the Minutes record does not correspond to the number and the distribution of valid and invalid ballots

An irregularity was observed in the sequence of use of ballot papers. And so, we have serial numbers 015001 to 015094 (except serial number 015011 which was pulled out and replaced by an “insert”) that are unused, and after that sequence starting with number 015095 to 015676 were used (except for the “missing” 015115, 015179, 015362, 015542, 015747, 015786, 015854, 015887, 015929), followed again by a series of unused serial numbers 015677 to 015701, and then again a series of used from serial numbers 015702 to 016000 (except “missing” serial numbers 015747, 015786, 015854, 015887, 015929).

Further, we found a series of serial numbers no. 016001 to 016500 unused ballot papers (except extracted series numbers 16070, 16175, 16222, 16358 and 16373 and 16420, and replaced by the above-mentioned “inserted” ballot papers), and this series of 500 ballot papers was supposed to be in a sealed box.

Examination revealed an increase in the number of invalid ballots, the number of votes per list does not match the official Minutes record.

We emphasise that we asked for a few more days for further analysis of polling station 26 (Mostar), but this was not permitted.

It is important to emphasise that the ballot papers and Minutes record from polling station 34 (Livno) were found on the table in piles, not in boxes.

At the end, we asked the SEC/DIP not to destroy the election materials, but they informed us in writing that the SEC/DIP will act “in accordance with the Regulations on the protection and processing of archival and registry material created in the work performed by SEC/DIP and other bodies for elections and referendums.” Therefore, we conclude that there is a danger of the ballot papers being destroyed within 60 days from the day of the official publication of the election results.

In Zagreb on October 7, 2020.

under the authority of General Zeljko Glasnovic

Mate Knezović, Lawyer”

Ina Vukic

CLICK HERE FOR The PRESS RELEASE IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE/ OBJAVA ZA JAVNOST NA HRVATSKOM JEZIKU

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croatia, Croatian elections 2020, Electoral fraud in Croatia, Mate Knezovic, Zejko Glasnovic

Communist Malignant Tumour Feeding Off Croatia’s Atrocious Judiciary

September 23, 2017 by inavukic 6 Comments

Zeljko Glasnovic
Photo: Screenshot

That the leftists are a malignant tumour that feeds off Croatia’s atrocious state in the judiciary (among other dysfunctional government departments), which in its practices has not moved forward in the past quarter of century since secession from communist Yugoslavia towards a well functioning process that delivers timely and independent from political influences results, is painfully evident in the former justice minister Orsat Miljenic’s reaction to the parliament member for the diaspora General Zeljko Glasnovic’s speech in Croatia’s parliament on Friday 22 September 2017.

Addressing the deep and disturbing problems within Croatia’s judiciary, which in essence represent a continuance of the same moral quagmire that suffocated normal life in communist Yugoslavia, Glasnovic pointed to the fact that there are no national productivity standards to which judges and judiciary must adhere to – if the justice system were to deliver justice for all. Glasnovic pointed out the unacceptable reality where some judges deliver decisions on two cases per year and others on a hundred and, yet, all are treated equally or considered as equally productive members of the judiciary! And wouldn’t you know it, Orsat Miljenic – who as a former justice minister had the perfect opportunity to advance the Croatian judiciary into a functioning unit of administering justice in Croatia but failed miserably, had the hide to criticise Glasnovic and suggest he needs to be silenced!

Does such reaction from Miljenic remind us of communist totalitarian regime? You bet it does!

Croatia’s political left, that is, former communists who still hold onto that dark heritage, are not really interested in debating what is right or wrong for Croatia. They are interested in debating you personally, threatening you – just like it used to happen in Yugoslavia. They are interested in castigating you as a nasty human being because you happen to promote positive changes that would shatter and split open the very ground they walk upon. This is what makes leftists leftists: an unearned sense of moral superiority over you. And if they can instill that sense of moral superiority in others by making you the bad guy, they will.

The sad and disturbing reality within Croatia’s judiciary that beckons urgent change in order to align it with a functional democracy lies in long court procedures and an enormously significant backlog of cases. The unreasonable delays in court proceedings (that can last for more than a decade!) violate the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time as protected by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and are therefore very important to address. The fact that we encounter people like Miljenic who threatens and criticises Glasnovic for his aim of creating a more stable and efficient judicial environment is a matter that requires the application of lustration directed at people such as Miljenic.

Orsat Miljenic Twitter
Photo: Screenshot

The international awareness of the inefficient and at times unpredictable legal system is one of the greatest challenges facing companies seeking to invest in Croatia; and Glasnovic alluded to that fact in his parliamentary speech on Friday 22 September, also. However, Miljenic, wrapped up in his anti-progress stance, omitted to give that reality any importance! And yet, it’s exactly that reality that holds back investments. Even simple court matters can take an unthinkably long time by democratic standards to resolve, due to the courts backlog of several hundreds of thousand cases. Reforms are an absolute necessity to enhance transparency and accountability within the court system. Standards of productivity, to which Glasnovic referred, are exactly the required mechanisms for transparency and accountability – but not in Croatia, still bogged down in the quagmire of communist filth on all fronts. Clean it up, please!

By continuing to allow politicians and people in social or political power, such as Miljenic, to ignore Croatia’s human rights obligations, such as a right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, Croatia is earning its reputation as a ‘talk-fest’, unable to bring about real social change due to self-imposed non-iterference in the establishment rules carried over from half a century of communism. While one may hope Croatia is successful in bringing about significant and lasting change through its several rhetorical persuasion efforts that arise from the right and independent political stances, it is doubtful such human rights initiatives will be successful in their aims until it first addresses the underlying issue of political disparity between its democratic and its leftist non-democratic members; i.e. until lustration steams up and cleans up. Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Communist Yugoslavia, Croatia, Croatian judiciary, European Convention on Human Rights, fair trial, lustration, Orsat Miljenic, Zejko Glasnovic

Legalising Marijuana Would Solve Croatia’s Economic Woes Says Madcap Politician

December 18, 2016 by inavukic 65 Comments

Ivan Pernar (L) Zeljko Glasnovic (R)

As I watched Ivan Pernar’s televised submission (14 December 2016) to the Croatian parliament on the matter of legalising marijuana it was difficult for me, a qualified and duly licensed professional in the field of mental processes and behaviour, to ascertain whether or not I was listening to an articulation of an intricately florid, clinically driven delusion when he, without batting an eyelid, unveiled his vision for a future where Croatia would apparently turn into “El Dorado” – a country of fabulous and untold riches almost overnight, if the use of marijuana was legalised.

Often impressing as bizarre or odd during sittings of the parliament it appears the Alphabet Democracy party’s Ivan Pernar was either stoned during that Croatian parliament sitting or was suffering some mental aberration, however passing or enduring in nature, at the bottom of which may well have stood a calculating, ill-intended pursuit to insult the intelligence of the Croatian nation as a whole. What’s troubling more, perhaps, is that the mainstream media omitted to show him up as a national disgrace for what he garbled up on a serious matter such as legalisation of marijuana.

According to Pernar life in Croatia, heck – the economy overall and all manner of lifestyle and standard of living-prosperity would be much, much better and all Croatia’s existential problems – solved, were Croatians to freely (legally) consume marijuana and puff away at joints till the proverbial cows came home, or as much as one pleases – thank you very much!

Pernar, straight faced, with a palpably spooky conviction said in his submission words to the effect that legalising the use of marijuana would have astronomically positive impacts upon Croatian economy – almost instantly. According to Pernar, legalisation of the use of marijuana in Croatia would almost automatically trigger a string of occurrences that would fill chockablock the till of Croatia’s struggling economy almost overnight. He submitted to the Parliament that if use of marijuana were legalised it would bring about an instant renaissance of Croatia’s agriculture because the vast mandarin orchards of Neretva Valley and most corn and wheat fields of Slavonia would simply be cleared out and these unprofitable crops replaced by immeasurably profitable cannabis.

He revealed his wild, unrealistic conviction that if the use of marijuana was legalised in Croatia all of the marijuana consumers from all over the world would flock into Croatia for a legal puff at a joint or two or three and thus swell Croatian tourism industry to the hilt. Utterly bizarre!

“I am primarily a representative of younger people,” he said, “that is, the young generation, and those generations are not burdened by the issues that burden perhaps most of the people in here. That is, many young people would like marijuana to be legalised because they are exposed to political persecution for smoking it. I say political persecution because politics decide whether marijuana will be legal or not. Since it’s not legal many of them must face infringement courts, get fines, etc. If Croatia were to legalise marijuana we would become the metropolis of tourism just like Netherlands has. Tourists would come all year round, we would have more foreign currency, people say they sell one mandarin for one kuna but that if cannabis were legalised they would all convert to these profitable cultures. Also, many in Slavonia who now grow corn and wheat unprofitably could, tomorrow, earn money and become profitable farmers. I think that legalization of marijuana would bring about a renaissance of our agriculture, a renaissance of tourism and I think that many people would be happier in this otherwise gloomy country. And if young people were asked whether they would be emigrating from this country I believe many would say that there is at least one reason why they could stay.

I hope that the parliament will accept our proposal for the legalisation of marijuana, which we will be sending for processing and that it will have a heart for all those young people because it’s not OK that they live in fear. The other day I was with a group of them who were smoking marijuana and they were shaking, and said – Ivan, what if they catch us. And I said to them that the people from HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union/parliamentary majority party) had robbed the whole country and none of them are shaking in their boots in this parliament (at this point the Speaker warned Pernar not to insult people). I only wanted to say: young people need to be given freedom, but there is no freedom in this country and I say many of them are exposed to that political persecution; can you imagine facing a court just because you had a joint, is that not shameful, they’ve done no harm to anyone and it’s needless to speak about all the useful effects of marijuana. Say, oil heals cancer and you can use it in textile industry… Marijuana should be produced in Croatia and consumed at a small price,” Pernar contemplated loudly.

Many I have come into contact regarding Pernar’s submission for the legalisation of marijuana in Croatia found the whole speech difficult and painful to digest because of its dumb, bizarre and insulting nature – just as I did. While most of the world’s parliaments engage in consideration of marijuana legalisation (and in Croatia its medicinal use is on the legalisation books), or the more advanced countries on carefully deliberating on regulations for medicinal use of marijuana, the Croatian parliament and nation were, without interruption in the parliamentary chamber, exposed here to an appeal for the creation of a legal framework that would facilitate cheap cannabis smoking habits in the young with a crazy and psychotic projection that Croatia would become a rich and prosperous country simply because of legal marijuana – to smoke and get high on.

Given this submission by Pernar for marijuana legalisation it would seem that General Zeljko Glasnovic’s loudly articulated opinion in parliament, on the same day, that Pernar was suffering from a bipolar disorder may not have been too far off the mark even if it was delivered in relation to Pernar’s reportedly flippant attitude in the chamber during discussions on key and important issues for the country. Certainly, close attention to Pernar’s speech in parliament on the benefits of legalising marijuana justifiably leads one to conclude, professionally qualified or not, that Pernar’s expressed thoughts are strongly suggestive of some mental aberration – perhaps more serious than a containable bipolar disorder.

Much of the media, though, went on to say how Glasnovic had insulted Pernar and yet failed miserably at noticing that Pernar with his submission to parliament regarding legalisation of marijuana actually insulted the prevailing morality and the intelligence of the majority of Croatian people. Double standards astound – always.

So much for a large part of the mainstream media in Croatia, which seemingly thrives on or makes up scandals on a national scale where there are none, but fails gut wrenchingly as a gatekeeper and watchdog of sound national intelligence and decent morality. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croatia, Ivan Pernar, marijuana legalisation, Zejko Glasnovic