While watching the show Kontraplan on Friday, I was surprised to see former intelligence chief Markica Rebic, attorney Vesna Alaburic and president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee Zarko Puhovski agree that the list of all the former Udba agents should be published, as was done in part last week by Hrvatski List from Zadar. In the show, one of the three participants said that a list should also be made of all those who worked for KOS, either as operatives or associates. This show was only confirmation of Nacional's decision to publish the list, but without any changes, in its original form as reconstructed and compiled by the Croatian agencies.

   I have to admit that I was quite taken to see the name of the late Vojko Santric on this list. I met Santric in his later year and I could even say that we were friends. I spend evening after evening with him on the 17th floor of Hotel Intercontinental, where he had a suite for years. I listened to many of his stories, from his work at the Belgrade company Genez to the sale of his tourism company Bemex to Ina, which he agreed directly with President Tudjman. In 1991, on the eve of the war when tourism was failing, he sold Tudjman Bemex for 12 million DEM. Those evenings with him were priceless for me in sorting out the mosaic of the functioning of high politics and financial flows during Tito's Yugoslavia. When he died a few years ago, I felt a lump in my throat every time I visited the 17th floor of today's Westin Hotel – I would see him at the table in the corner, always smiling and ready to laugh and talk about good-looking women. Only those stories were more interesting that chatting about politics and politicians. I truly had no idea that he worked for KOS.

   Despite my wonderful memories of Vojko, I did not for a second think to leave him off the list of 1789 KOS associates. Had I done that, I doubt anyone would have noticed, but my conscience would not be clear for I would be tampering with the facts. And this document that Nacional is publishing is a fact that the Croatian state stands behind. According to the information I have, Hrvatski List did not act so professionally, as their list was not complete. Allegedly, the editor-in-chief of that magazine left out a certain I.A., who worked for Udba under the code name “Slavko”. “Slavko” is known to be the chief mentor and friend of the editor of Hrvatski List and the grey eminence of that magazine in the logistical, organizational and idea sense of the word. Today, “Slavko” is director of a company in Zadar and previously he ran several large newspapers in Croatia. Thus, the editor of Hrvatski List did something he never should have allowed himself to do – by not publishing the complete list, he tampered with the document and manipulated his readers. Which is not permissible in serious journalism.

  The list that Nacional publishes in this issue does not contain many well known names but it proves that KOS was an octopus with associates in all segments and layers of society. It’s a share that this list was not published earlier. Nacional was unable to publish it for a very simple reason – we didn’t have the list. Had we had access to it, we would have published it ten years ago. Had both lists been published years ago (but in their complete, original composition), many things would be much clearer. This would be a type of public illustration but obviously there was no will in the top state ranks. We think it’s important to know who lives in your neighbourhood.    Due to the Statute of Limitations, this list has no effect in court, but we believe it absolutely in public interest to inform readers of Operation Janjicar. All that included on the list is on the conscience of its compilers. Answers to the question of why you or someone dear to you is on this list should not be sought from Nacional, but from the competent bodies of the Republic of Croatia.