ZAGREB, April 3 (Hina) - By taking in seven masked anti-war protesters who gathered in front of Zagreb's Faculty of Philosophy on Wednesday, the police "have gone too far and violated the rights of the protesters", peace activists
said, while the police claimed they wanted to protect citizens who "do not want to see masked people walking in the streets in times of turmoil".
ZAGREB, April 3 (Hina) - By taking in seven masked anti-war
protesters who gathered in front of Zagreb's Faculty of Philosophy
on Wednesday, the police "have gone too far and violated the rights
of the protesters", peace activists said, while the police claimed
they wanted to protect citizens who "do not want to see masked
people walking in the streets in times of turmoil". #L#
Seven people, wearing scarves and caps with eye-slits as a
disguise, were separated around 6 p.m. from a group which had
gathered in front of the Faculty of Philosophy, from where they were
to set out towards the U.S. Embassy in downtown Zagreb, and taken
in.
The police said the protesters had been arrested because they had
ignored their order to take off their masks and that they were
released after questioning.
Vesna Jankovic, a long-standing non-government activist and former
head of Zagreb's GONG (Organised Election Monitoring by Citizens)
office, who was among the protesters, said the police conduct was
inappropriate after the arrest as well.
The police at Zagreb's eighth station harassed some of the arrested
and threatened to keep them at the station overnight, until the
magistrate's court opens in the morning, she said.
The protesters claim that the behaviour of the police changed only
after an intervention by the parents of two arrested minors and
journalists and the arrival of an official from the internal
control department. The arrested protesters were then examined by
doctors, after which they were released around 1 a.m., Jankovic
said.
Commenting on the accusations, Zagreb police deputy spokesman
Davor Tor said the internal control department had not discovered
any irregularities in the arrest procedure or the protesters' stay
in the police station.
Tor said the misunderstanding had been caused by the refusal of some
of the protesters to remove masks.
"Masked persons disturb citizens and cause anxiety," Tor said,
adding that the incident "spoiled an otherwise beautiful and
peaceful gathering".
(hina) rml sb