Now that my appeal to the verdict of the Pazin court is with the higher court in Pula, I would like to send you a few more words. Words of warning, that is. I know that your closest associates around Istria are well acquainted with my writings, whence this open letter. As you can imagine, my main concern is the conflict of interests endemic to Istria and Croatia as a whole. My writings on the subject got me in court in the first place, but chances are that the topic will eventually be of interest to a much wider public, including the institutions of the European Union concerned with Croatia’s accession to the Union.

The mayor of Motovun, who wrongly charged me with libel twice and insult once, all under the same law systematically abused in Croatia to suppress dissidents, is your man. You two are connected not only through the Istrian Democratic Assembly, of which you are the boss, but also through golf development. Motovun is just one of more than twenty municipalities in Istria, a region with the population of a small European town, which were supposed to be enriched by the vaunted sport and vast numbers of apartments, houses, and villas. The law firm from Pula representing the mayor is also close to you and golf development. Representing all regional promoters of golf and all domestic and foreign investors in the sport, including the one in Motovun, this law firm has also contributed to the golf law promoted by the former prime minister, who is now in an Austrian jail for widespread corruption and organized crime. And the judge in the Pazin court who was selected to deal with the three lawsuits by the mayor of Motovun is a well-known supporter of your party, which is in power ever since independence.

I would expect that the judge in Pula selected to deal with my appeal will also be a well-known supporter of your party, which would neatly complete my story about the conflict of interests as endemic to the region and the country. Facing your people from all sides, I will have no chance in court whatsoever, and the mayor of Motovun will eventually win one or more of his lawsuits. But I would like to warn you one more time that this story will not end in Istria or anyplace else in Croatia. It will end in Strasbourg, under the watchful eyes of the Union officials responsible for such matters, including enlargement. And that will be another nail in the coffin of yours and your closest associates’ systematic abuse of the conflict of interests as one of the fundamental principles of democratic government.