Thousands of Croatians rally against 'Tito' square

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

ZAGREB (AFP) — Some 2,000 people rallied in Zagreb's Marshal Tito square on Saturday, demanding it be stripped of its association with the former Yugoslav leader and renamed Theatre Square.

Protestors carrying candles and dressed in red aprons bearing the slogan "Crime is a Crime" walked in a circle around the square, one of the main ones in the centre of Zagreb, with some chanting "Tito, a criminal."

Organiser Josip Jurcevic said Tito was responsible for "mass killings, tortures, prosecutions and forbidding of pluralism."

Josip Broz "Tito", who ruled Yugoslavia from 1944 to his death in 1980, is a controversial figure in Croatia -- adored by those nostalgic of communist times while seen as a dictator by other.

Some 200 supporters of Tito, who led...