First of all, thank you very much for your response of December 8 to my letters of December 3 and 4, 2008, which I have received via electronic mail from your chief of staff, Ms. Katarina Fuček. Let me add that I was away from my electronic mail for a couple of weeks, as well as that I am responding to your letter at my earliest opportunity. It is my hope that this last letter will give you a clear understanding of the seriousness of the situation I now face.

I am glad to learn that my letters have been forwarded to the minister of the interior, Mr. Tomislav Karamarko. I sincerely hope that he will do whatever needs to be done to stop the Croatian practice of taking writers to court for slander whenever someone in power finds their comments the least bit offensive. Once again, my comments appeared on a private website with literary content, and in English. According to all the evidence available to me, this site is rarely visited by Croatians. Taking me to court for slander in such a case is hardly a widespread democratic practice in the western world, and Croatia will certainly have to change its legal procedures regarding this particular type of offense before its entry into the European Union.

In the meanwhile, I must admit that I have been feeling increasingly insecure in the country of my birth. Having lived in the United States and Britain for most of my adult life, and having moved back to Croatia only five years ago, I must say that I now feel ill at ease in this repressive environment. Every day I read about widespread corruption in the courts. Apparently, judges regularly collude with those in power, and for money. How do I know that my slander case is not fixed well in advance? How do I know that the Istrian golf lobby, powerful as it appears to be at this particular time, is not in control of the Istrian courts, as well? After all, it has managed only last week to get its highly controversial law on golf passed by the Croatian parliament as though it concerns no less than national security!

Now, I am thus seriously considering renouncing my Croatian nationality so as to ensure my personal safety. That is, to ensure that I am better protected by a European court as a British citizen. In this connection, I am already seeking legal advice both in Croatia and abroad. And I may soon seek protection from the British embassy in Zagreb.

Be sure that I will make my decision most public, however. As a person of renown in academic and artistic circles around the globe, I am certain to get the attention required to ensure that justice will eventually prevail, but not under the suspicious Croatian law. I will do whatever is in my power to bring to light the way writers are treated under that law. Most important, I will do my best to ensure that all sorts of abuses of the Croatian judicial system are brought to a close as soon as possible.

Addendum (December 23, 2008)

Less than twenty-four hours after this letter was written and dutifully sent to the prime minister I learned from one of the leading Croatian newspapers that the minister of the interior is currently engaged in slander cases with no less than two intrepid bloggers. Both of them had offended him personally, and he could not but retaliate with legal action on account of all the emotional pain he had suffered, just like the mayor of my dejected little hilltown. And he is supposed to be on my side in my pending slander case! Me, just another silly blogger!