Croatian politician Vladimir Seks said on Monday he had sued Croatia at the European Court of Human Rights because he was not given access to documents of Croatia's first President Franjo Tudjman, adding that it was in the national interest to reveal, not conceal that period in recent history.

The documents in question are from the archives of the President’s Office. Seks had requested them during former President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic’s term. He was denied access to some with the explanation that they are secret, a decision later upheld by the Administrative and Constitutional courts.

Speaking to the Croatian state agency Hina, Seks said those two courts “for some odd reasons found, completely wrongly, that the publication of President Tudjman’s transcripts would threaten national security” and damage national interests. He said he had no other option but to resolve the matter at European level.

Seks said he was denied access to 29 transcripts of Tudjman’s talks with various statesmen and politicians from 1992 and 1993 which he said he needs for his memoirs.

Among them are Tudjman’s talks with the leadership of the HDZ party’s Brod-Posavina County branch and an association of returnees, he said, adding that he could not see how they could be a threat to national security.

Seks said the Administrative and Constitutional courts made their decisions arbitrarily, not based on law, and that they had made a mistake by closing those documents to the public.

Seks’ lawyer Visnja Drenski-Lasan said Seks had filed an application at the ECHR, which has considered that application and decided that Croatia’s legal representative is required to respond to it by 20 May at the latest.