Zdravko Bazdan

Zdravko Bazdan was born in 1946 in Dubrovnik. He spent his youth in Belgrade, where he also completed his education. He declared himself as a Yugoslav. He was a member of SKJ [League of Communists of Yugoslavia] from 1973. When in 1989 SKH [League of Communists of Croatia] changed its name to SDP [Party for Democratic Change] he was present at the session as a delegate. He supported the establishment of political pluralism. As a candidate for SDP, he ran for a position in one of the bodies of the Dubrovnik Municipal Council, though lost. With the commencement of the shelling of nearby Mokošica, his faith in the survival of Yugoslavia was lost. He spent the war years in Mokošica, in the surroundings of Dubrovnik, which was under the occupation of the JNA [Yugoslav National Army] from November 20th 1991 to May 26th 1992. During that period he set up a human rights unit within the community of Mokošica’s Civil Protection organisation. He was a long term and active member of the HHO [Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights]. Today, he lectures on democracy and human rights at the University of Dubrovnik.