LINTA: ZADAR COURT'S RULING OVER SONG "OJ, KRAJINO, MOJA MILA MATI" ANTI-CIVILIZATIONAL

BELGRADE, AUGUST 20 /SRNA/ - Chair of the Association of Serbs from the Region Miodrag Linta described the Zadar Court’decision anti-civilizational for finding renowned traditional artist Svetlana Spajić guilty over posting the song "Oj, Krajino, moja mila mati" /"Oh, Krajina, My Dear Mother"/, with the ruling explaining that the word "Krajina" allegedly has a negative and disturbing meaning.

Linta said that Croatia would not succeed in banning the use of the word Krajina, which is one of the most important symbols of the Serb people, despite the planned and deliberate persecution, arrests, prison and financial sentences, as well as harassment and oppression of Krajina Serbs. Linta pointed out that Krajina, together with the Serbian Orthodox Church, was an institution that saved the Serb people from the 15th to the 19th century, when they lived under Ottoman, Austrian and Venetian rule. "It preserved freedom and Serb traditions during centuries of foreign rule. The people of Krajina were free people exempt from levies and taxes. They paid for their freedom with their blood because, in return, they were obliged to perform military service," Linta said. He stresses that Krajina is one of the most important symbols of the Serb people. "It reminds us of centuries of migration, oppression, forced assimilation, the genocide in the NDH, persecution and suffering in the 1990s, but also of the heroism and bravery of the people of Krajina and their proud preservation of their national, religious and cultural identity," Linta said. Linta stressed that the song "Oj, Krajino, moja mila mati" was performed as far back as the 19th century. As Linta stresses, this is one of many examples proving that Croatia is a chauvinistic state dominated by an anti-Serb atmosphere and hatred toward everything with Serb prefox, the Association of Serbs from the Region announced. Linta noted that the Svetlana Spajić case is one of numerous examples of the gross violation of the human rights of Serbs in Croatia. He said that Croatian police found that on March 6, 2024, Svetlana Spajić had posted on social media a recording about one minute long in which she sang the aforementioned traditional song. "The court in Zadar, in a scandalous, absurd and anti-civilizational ruling, assessed that in present-day Croatia the word Krajina supposedly has a negative and disturbing meaning," Linta said.