HELP, HELP! (May 26, 2009)
If Motovun rumors are to be trusted at this treacherous moment, my third court case is now being quietly concocted, this time for slander proper. I used some strong words in my presentation of Motovun’s golf story at a meeting of environmental activists in Zagreb two months ago, and a recording of the event found its way onto the World Wide Web. Taken out of context, a clip from this recording turned up in town a few days before the local elections a couple of weeks ago. Circulated surreptitiously by one of the leading lights of the incumbent political party, it became a weapon against political change. Of course, the gist of my message got pushed to the side, if not entirely out of view (“Hopelessly Naïve,” March 25, 2009). The new court case will therefore revolve around the so-called public discussion of the environmental impact study of golf development under Motovun, my humorous rendering of which is captured by the camera. However, the public discussion skirted the law beyond any reasonable doubt (“The Mayor and His Stooges: An Electronic-Mail Message to the Members of Motovun-Eco Town,” October 22, 2008). Once again, the court case will bring to light the wholesale repression of political dissent in Motovun, Istria, and Croatia as a whole. Monty Python’s “Holy Grail” surfaces once again: “Help, help, I am being repressed!”