Bob Dylan is being investigated on suspicion of inciting hatred in Paris over comments he made in Rolling Stone magazine , French prosecutors said Tuesday . An organization representing Croatians in France pressed charges against Dylan for allegedly comparing the conflict between Croatians and Serbs to the Nazis ' persecution of Jews in an interview last year for the French edition of Rolling Stone . `` If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood , blacks can sense that . That stuff lingers to this day . Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood , '' the influential singer-songwriter was quoted as saying . While a Croatian group has said Dylan was referencing the violence that came with the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s , it 's unclear whether the long-outspoken musician was referring to Yugoslavia or the crimes committed when the Ustasha ruled Croatia during World War II . The Paris prosecutor 's office said Dylan was placed under formal investigation last month by the Paris Main Court for `` public injury '' and `` incitement to hatred . '' Vlatko Maric , secretary general of the Representative Council of the Croatian Community and Institutions , told CNN his organization had brought the case almost a year ago . Explaining the council 's decision to pursue the case against Dylan , Maric said the artist 's remarks in Rolling Stone were of a `` rare violence '' that had deeply shocked people from a nation still wounded by the conflict of the 1990s . `` An entire people is being compared to criminal organizations '' like the Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan , he said . `` The Croatians are peaceful people who respect Bob Dylan as an artist , but we must remind him that he ca n't make such remarks . `` We have nothing against him , but the Croatians do not want to be insulted . '' Lawyer : We 'd like a public apology . A lawyer for the Croatian organization told CNN on Tuesday that his clients would be willing to drop the charges if Dylan publicly apologized for his remarks . `` An apology is a better repair than a financial compensation , '' Ivan Jurasinovic said , adding that this would be a far more positive outcome for everyone . `` Bob Dylan is someone who is very much admired in Croatia , '' he said . Asked if his clients had already contacted Dylan to request an apology , he said that the process was `` ongoing '' and that `` they hoped something could be arranged . '' Representatives of Dylan and Rolling Stone have not yet responded to requests for comment . Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2012 , just one of many accolades to come the musician 's way during half a century in the public eye . He was also named an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters this year . Bloody conflicts . Between 1941 and 1945 , Croatia 's Ustasha erected numerous concentration camps `` to isolate and murder Jews , Serbs , Roma ( also known as Gypsies ) , and other non-Catholic minorities , as well as Croatian political and religious opponents of the regime , '' according to the U.S . Holocaust Memorial Museum . Croat authorities murdered an estimated 320,000 to 340,000 ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia under Ustasha rule , the museum says . Decades later , the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s caused the bloodiest conflict on the European continent since World War II , with more than 100,000 people believed killed . The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , a U.N.-backed court , continues to prosecute war crimes committed during that time . The tribunal has said `` the most significant number '' of its cases have dealt with alleged crimes by Serbians or Bosnian Serbs . But there have been convictions for crimes against Serbs by others , including Croats , Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo Albanians .
Croatian group would be willing to drop charges if Dylan publicly apologizes , lawyer says . Iconic singer Bob Dylan is accused of likening the Croatian people to Nazis . The remarks were quoted in an interview for the French edition of Rolling Stone magazine . The complaint was brought by a body representing Croatians in France .