In an open letter yesterday, Racan accused the police of violating citizens' human rights by exceeding authority in the use of force. He said the internal control system was completely inefficient, and that belated reactions to such cases of violations undermined the political message that the law must be respected.
In his reply, Mlinaric conceded that the Croatian police were not immune from abusing and overstepping authority, but said the number of such incidents was not as high as insinuated by Racan.
Presenting figures, Mlinaric said that in this year's 10 months force was used in 1,943 police interventions, and that in only seven cases did officers overstep authority. He added that internal control was carried out in those seven cases in line with the law, and that the results of the control led to disciplinary or criminal proceedings against the officers who had exceeded their powers.