This morning I was surprised by a major article in Glas Istre (The Voice of Istria) against abuses of the Croatian libel law. Among many crooked cases well known to the Istrian public, my three court cases lodged several years ago by the mayor of Motovun were also mentioned. I could not but respond with a supportive letter to the editor of the leading newspaper in the region. And I could not but mention that the same law is customarily abused in most ex-communist countries. As well as by the children of communist leaders of old. Especially in the provinces, like Istria, they quickly figured out how to use the law to their utmost advantage. The corrupt courts obliged, too. Of course, I could not but also mention that the mayor of Motovun would ultimately lose all the cases brought against me for political reasons having to do with crooked golf development. And in Strasbourg, of all places. Freedoms of thought and speech have been trampled often enough behind the old Iron Curtain. But enough is enough. The rule of ex-communist leaders is finally up. Or so I would sincerely hope.

Addendum (June 1, 2011)

For good measure, I forwarded my letter to the editor of Glas Istre to the governor of Istria, as well. I was testing the system once again. Of course, my letter has never appeared in print. God forbid. The governor has many and powerful connections throughout the peninsula. Put differently, I was wrong about the rule of ex-communist leaders. They are still in power, and they will stay in power as long as the local newspapers, like Glas Istre, are squarely behind them. How much longer? Hard to tell, but chances are that the whole system will stay in its present sorry shape until Istrians learn to read English. In the meanwhile, good luck to the whole lot.