Independent Democratic Serb Party president Milorad Pupovac said on Saturday the participants in an incident who incited to violence against Serb women and children were "tragic extras" while the main players, writers and directors behind such messages were some individuals running in the election.

“The main players, writers and directors behind such messages are the campaign leaders of some political parties and political leaders who wish to come to power on an anti-minority, notably an anti-Serb campaign, who, on the hate against Serbs, wish to gain power to exploit Croats and get rich off them,” he said at a press conference.

Many of them have nothing against Serbs and to most of them Serbs are excellent business partners, but that does not prevent them from polluting Croatia with hate against Serbs, that is the only way they can get power, Pupovac said.

New Croatian capitalists and tycoons, in association with people from the judiciary and some Church circles, who take no issue with Ustasha symbols, will not speak against the misuse of the cross as a Christian symbol for hate and violence against the weak and the innocent, he said.

He called out “those legalising” the Ustasha salute “For the homeland ready” at concerts by claiming that it did not bother those in attendance.

The High Magistrate’s Court did not ask if anyone who did not attend was bothered or disturbed by it, he said.

Pupovac said his party would consider whether to participate in government after the parliamentary election in any way.

“If it’s a problem for this country’s politics that the largest minority participates in the election of the prime minister, the vote on the budget and the discharge of minimal forms of government, we won’t do it. Let them see if they will do better.”

Boris Milosevic said physical violence against Serbs in Croatia was on the rise in recent years, with five attacks reported in 2018 and 25 in 2019.

“From graffiti, banners, salutes and hate messages we come to physical violence. Hate crimes are difficult to report, it’s more difficult for the police to find the perpetrators and the judiciary treats them inadequately, so these numbers are much lower than the actual ones,” he said.

The increase in violence against Serbs is due to the normalisation and downplaying of Ustasha insignia and the anti-Serb campaign of some political parties and other actors, he said.

“Many of the people who waved the banner are actually encouraged because society’s messages are not clear and unambiguous.”

Zagreb police have arrested six persons suspected of displaying the insulting banner in Zagreb’s Kustosija neighbourhood that incited to ethnic violence against Serb women and children.

Photos posted on social media show several Dinamo football club supporters holding the banner which said “We will f..k Serb women and children” and the letter “u” turned into the Ustasha symbol.