British legal expert Eric Gordy: Čović's doctorate a reward for Heliodrom

ZAGREB, (Patria) - The University of Zagreb today awarded an honorary doctorate to Dragan Čović, member of the BiH Presidency from the Croatian people and president of HDZ BiH. 

The explanation for the award states that Čović contributed to strengthening bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, preserving Croatian identity, promoting democratic values, and affirming Croatian educational, scientific and cultural heritage in Europe and the world.

Čović's doctorate has sparked numerous reactions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, as well as in some European countries. Many public figures consider Čović's doctorate to be pure politicking, an abuse of science for the needs of HDZ, and a reward for a policy that was convicted before the International Court in The Hague for a joint criminal enterprise against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

British legal expert Eric Gordy wrote on his Twitter profile that the University of Zagreb's doctorate for Čović is "a recognition for the memorable things he has written." 

"Like this memo," said Gordy, who also published a document from 1993, in which Dragan Čović, then director of the company Soko, requests from the commander of the "Heliodrom" camp, Josip Praljak, ten prisoners for the purpose of performing work for the needs of "Soko."

Today Dragan Čović is receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Zagreb. It is a recognition for the memorable things he has written. Like this memo. pic.twitter.com/5gC8RdCy2E

— Eric Gordy (@EricGordy) June 19, 2018

At the ceremony awarding the honorary doctorate to Čović were the highest officials of HDZ BiH such as Marinko Čavara and Borjana Krišto, as well as high-ranking HDZ officials Andrej Plenković, Croatian Prime Minister, and former Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granić.
Croatian Prime Minister Plenković wrote on Twitter: "I congratulate the Croatian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, academician Dragan Čović, on the honorary doctorate from the University of Zagreb."

Čović himself stated: "Heartfelt thanks to the University of Zagreb for the honour shown. Thanks to my family, my associates, my friends and all the motivators who build me to be even better. May dear God help me to do everything I do for the good of man."

Some professors from the university had previously reacted to Čović's honorary doctorate at the University of Zagreb. Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy Đurđica Čilić told "Novosti": "Where Čović is a god, I want to be nothing."

Croatian writer and university professor Jurića Pavičić said he is returning his doctorate to the University, and called on other colleagues to do the same:

Independent intellectuals and journalists from Croatia believe that Čović's doctorate from the University of Zagreb is a humiliation of the academic community in Croatia, and a signal that the academic community in that country continues to support the retrograde policy of HDZ towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Professor Đurđica Čilić criticised the explanation in her reaction. "The commission's report states that Dragan Čović began his career 'in the difficult moments of the abolition of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna'. I remind the commission and all members of this senate that in the international legal sense that republic never existed, and that it brought immeasurable harm to Bosnian-Herzegovinian, and especially Bosnian Croats, except for the few who benefited from its establishment. The Herceg-Bosna project, which was also presented at the International Court in The Hague, and of which Čović is a consistent political continuator, actually represents a tragedy for the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

for the hundredth time it is worth publishing this scanned photo. the honorary doctorate of the University of Zagreb is literally a reward for criminal activity in the war, and a very clear indicator of a deliberate, hybrid war against this country. pic.twitter.com/o8YmaDSB2H

— faruk sehic (@faruksehic70) June 19, 2018

Bosnian-Herzegovinian journalist and writer Faruk Šehić, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature, believes that the honorary doctorate from the University of Zagreb to Dragan Čović is, as he said, "a reward for criminal activity in the war, and a very clear indicator of a deliberate, hybrid war against this country."