A Slovenian comic and actor who has made a career of impersonating former Yugoslav leader Tito has caused outrage with comments that there is room in a mass grave for those who disapprove of his persona.

Appearing on a morning talk show on public broadcaster TV Slovenija, Ivo Godnic said that his persona of Tito was supported by 92% of Slovenians. Asked about the other eight percent, he said that there was plenty of space for them in a WWII mass grave.

"More than 90%, 92%, of the people are my friends and allies as far as Tito is concerned. The other eight percent, well..." he said. Prompted by the host to finish the sentence, he said: "The St. Barbara [mine shaft] has been emptied recently so there is room inside."

St. Barbara is a mineshaft where hundreds of bodies of suspected collaborators with German occupying forces and anti-Communists executed by Communists at the end of WWII were dug up in 2009.

While Godnic added that "this is what you call sarcasm and satire", his comments have sparked anger among some of the viewers and political groups.

The Young Slovenia, a youth wing of the non-parliamentary New Slovenia (NSi) party, assessed that the comments amounted to an expression of support for crimes against humanity. The non-parliamentary party therefore announced it would file a criminal complaint against the actor.

Godnic's remarks have also been criticised by the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman. Deputy Ombudsman Jernej Rovsek told RTV Slovenija on Wednesday that the comments were "inconsiderate and contained elements of hate speech and denial of serious crimes".

Rovsek and the NSi called on the actor to apologise, but Godnic has rejected this, saying that he will "not apologise for my political satire, which I have been performing successfully for 20 years now".

"I think that this satire is a thorn in somebody's side, which is why they want to silence me, so I see this as an attack on freedom of speech and satire in Slovenia," he said.

While still popular among many Slovenians, the long-time Yugoslav leader is accused of massive human rights violations during his reign as leader of the Communist regime from WWII to his death in 1980.

Mass executions of suspected collaborators and anti-Communists at the end of WWII are still a very divisive issue in Slovenia, where new mass graves are being uncovered almost every year.