Ivo Banac remains president of HHO

Ivo Banac was today re-elected as president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO) by a majority vote at the plenary session of the organization for the protection of human rights.

His deputy was elected to be the founder and honorary president of HHO, Ivan Zvonimir Čičak. Before the election of the president, some members of HHO expressed dissatisfaction that Banac was proposed as the only candidate for president. Ivan Grubišić believed that two or three candidates should have been proposed for president "so that there could be a choice, not just a vote." He holds that the election of only one candidate raises concerns about certain manipulation or a manifestation of a certain unitarism. Vilim Matula stated that the entire HHO Office in Zagreb was "cleansed," with many experienced individuals leaving its operations. He also questioned on what ethical and moral basis Banac spent the money he received as a member of parliament and why that question is not being raised? "I have not received an answer to it, nor have the media," he said.

Speaking about the one-year work of the Committee, Banac stated that it was "extremely difficult" due to numerous circumstances. He recalled that, as the newly elected president, he wanted to renew HHO, which was criticized. "The old leadership had the perception that no renewal was necessary, which proved to be a wrong assessment," he said. He assessed that the HHO Office was largely outside the oversight of the director and the Executive Board, and the Committee itself was passive.

Banac emphasized that the previous leadership unnecessarily led HHO into a deficit and that he managed to eliminate the damage caused by others within a year. "We managed to resolve many difficulties in the Office, and the difficulties related to projects and financing were brought down to a bearable level," he noted, adding that HHO achieved revenue of five million kuna last year. Banac stated that various media campaigns were also conducted against him, starting from the case of Mirjana Pukanić. He emphasized that HHO has neither a left nor a right political profile. "We defend human rights and we will continue to do so in the future," he stressed.

He assessed the state of human rights in Croatia as better, but believes that the state of the media is not good as it often features disinformation, hate speech is returning, and they are also monopolized. Today, the membership of HHO included director Krešimir Dolenčić, judge Vladimir Gredelj, singer Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni, and journalist Branimir Pofuk. (H)