war of independence

Thompson staged another huge show at the start of August in Krajina, the stronghold of Croatian Serbs during the war of independence.

That performance was part of the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm – the military battle which ended Croatia's war of independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but which also displaced hundreds of thousands of Serbs.

"This has opened Pandora's box," says Tena Banjeglav of Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past, an organisation which focuses on reconciliation by taking a factual approach to both World War Two and the more recent war of independence.

Conservative commentator Matija Štahan believes that Thompson's time serving as a soldier during the war of independence gives him the right to use "Za dom, spremni" in his work.

The protests began against civil service job quotas for relatives of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence and escalated into a mass movement that ousted Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years.