Prison For Would-Be Pride Bomber

A tiny bit of light in today's parade of horrors:

(Zagreb) A 25-year old man convicted of plotting to throw Molotov cocktails into a gay pride march last July in the Croatian capital has been sentenced to 14 months behind bars.

Josip Situm was convicted of endangering lives and property. He was arrested last summer as he prepared to hurl the first of several incendiaries into the parade. Police said that Situm had several bottles containing gasoline, rags as fuses, and matches. Extreme right wing militants had threatened to disrupt the parade. There were a number of skirmishes and several people were injured, none seriously.

Situm could have been sentenced up to eight years in prison. The judge ordered the young man to undergo at psychiatric examination during his time in prison. During the trial Situm said that he was a devout Catholic and had been taught that homosexuality is dangerous. He denied, however that he intended to throw the bombs. Situm admitted that he brought the bombs to the parade but changed his mind about throwing them.