Today I met with Dr. Velimir Šimičić, one of the key players in the story about crooked golf in Motovun (”The Motovun Golf Saga,” April 2, 2009). He joined Green Istria, an association concerned with environmental issues on the peninsula, in a lawsuit against the Ministry of the Environment on account of many irregularities in the process of vetting the spatial or physical plan of the Municipality of Motovun. Green Istria received the court’s decision only this morning, nearly three years after the lawsuit was filed with the court. The good news is that Green Istria has won the case, thus putting in question the municipal plan in its entirety. But the bad news is that the court’s decision was made on July 21. God only knows why it took it almost two months to reach the aggrieved parties. The rectification of all the irregularities committed in the process of vetting of the plan is liable to take many more years, as well. One way or another, though, crooked golf is dead. At least in Motovun.

Addendum I (October 7, 2011)

The news is out by now. All kinds of media are reporting the court’s decision. Friends and acquaintances are calling and sending messages with their congratulations for my part in the demise of crooked golf in Motovun. Although it is Green Istria that is to be congratulated in this case, I am certainly the one in the hilltown who has been pointing out that the golf in question has little to do with sport. It was a real-estate grab, which was a part of the real-estate bubble that burst just as the spatial or physical plan of Motovun was being shoved through the municipality. And this is why I am still in court myself. As an opponent of the scam, which would have enriched a few, I had to be stopped one way or another. In the end, the mayor of Motovun took me to court for make-believe crimes, such as libel and insult. Amazingly, his lawyers represented golf developers, as well. This is how I became a martyr of sorts. And I am accepting congratulations only as such.

Addendum II (October 8, 2011)

In line with its long-term record, Glas Istre (The Voice of Istria) yesterday offered the most pitiful account of the story. They do have a flair for such things, anyway. There was little worth reading in the article about the victory of Green Istria, but the article emphasized some endangered species of frog in the Mirna valley. A picture of the poor creature takes most of the space available. Apparently, golf development in Motovun was cast aside because of the silly frog. The irregularities central to the case were not even mentioned in the article. Not to worry, though. Everyone worth his or her salt on the peninsula knows perfectly well that this newspaper is in the grips of the leading local party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly, which brought golf to Istria in the first place. Although not an official member of the party, the mayor of Motovun is committed to it hook, line, and sinker. Which is why he solemnly declared in a brief interview with the newspaper that he had learned about the court decision from the newspapers only. He is awaiting further instructions from no lesser an authority than the Ministry of the Environment itself. Amen!