Retired Croatian General Ante Gotovina watches the Sinjska Alka, in the town of Sinj, Croatia (4 August 2013). Seen by many in Croatia as a national hero, Gen Gotovina was the leader of Operation Storm which retook the breakaway region of Krajina in 1995 during the Croatian War of Independence, and a former French Legionnaire. He was indicted by the Hague in 2001, but acquitted in 2012. The Alka is a knightly tournament dating back to 1715, in which riders compete to spear a small metal ring from a galloping horse. The Alka is inscribed on the Unesco list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. © Rudolf Abraham