LAID-OFF POLICE WANT INTERIOR MINISTER, ZAGREB POLICE HEAD TO RESIGN

ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - Former police who have been protesting outside the government in Zagreb for ten days on Friday demanded that Interior Minister Sime Lucin and Zagreb police head Ivan Babic resign due to what they described as an illegal arrest of four protesters and the false informing of the public on a police operation that took place two days ago. #L# A vice-president of a coordinating body gathering laid-off police, Filip Lacic, told reporters that on the night of March 28 members of the crime police illegally arrested four former policemen. Lacic claims the former policemen, who the police said disturbed public peace and order by sleeping in their cars in a public place, were only sitting in their cars. "The police report on that and the subsequent sealing-off of St. Mark's square is false and we therefore demand Lucin and Babic's resignation," Lacic said. One of the arrested former police said that he and his colleague were sleeping in a car when they were woken by plain-clothes police who asked them to get out of the car and come with them to the police station. The police, he said, would not tell them why they were being taken to the police station and one of them threatened to use force if they did not comply. Once they got to the police station, the former policemen said they had been sleeping in the open in the square in front of the government building until 2am, but were cold and had to go to the car of one of them. According to the arrested policeman, the police told them they were arrested but not why. In the morning, they were visited by an investigating judge, after which they were transferred to a prison cell. Around 4 pm that day, the former police were told they had committed an offence by sleeping in a public place and were released in the evening. He added that the police did not give them any documents on their penalty. Lacic said that three former policemen, who have been on a hunger strike with nine other colleagues for three days, sought medical help today. One of them was one of the policeman who was arrested two days ago. First Deputy Prime Minister Drazen Budisa urged the protesters this morning to discontinue the strike, but they refused it. Lacic said that the protesters told Budisa the strike would continue until they returned to work. He distanced himself from some laid-off police who were holding talks with government representatives on their return to work. "I have been invited to the talks as well, but I refused because I cannot accept anything but our return to work," he said. (hina) rml