POLICE WILL NOT INTERVENE AT ST. MARK'S CHURCH CHAPEL

ZAGREB, Sept 17 (Hina) - Police will not intervene in St. Mark's church chapel, but will undertake all necessary measures to disperse some dozen protesters, former police officers, who are currently in the chapel, the head of Zagreb Police commissioner's office, Krunoslav Borovac, said on Tuesday. #L# He refused to say what measures police would undertake because, he said, they would depend on the situation at hand. At a news conference at St. Mark's square, organised in the aftermath of the apprehension of one of the protesters, Borovac said the police would not enter the chapel because they respected the agreement between Croatia and the Holy See on legal issues. He added that police had informed the Croatian Bishops' Conference about events in the square in downtown Zagreb where the government building is located. Police will stay in the square until the last of the protesters leaves the church, Borovac said. He stated that a special police unit had intervened on Tuesday morning because the protesters, despite a warning that the protest had been ceased on September 10, had hanged a banner on the church, indicating that they intended to continue the protest. Borovac added that the protesters had exited the church on Tuesday morning and gathered in the location where the protest had been prohibited, with the intention to continue the protest. Police intervened after they ignored warnings to stop the rally. "That is when measures to disperse the participants were taken, after which they again retreated to the church, except for one who was taken to a police station for misdemeanour," Borovac said. He stressed that the protesters had been informed about the fact that their earlier protest had been banned and that they could register a new rally, but in an area in which public peace and order could be guaranteed, which they did not do. Borovac said that the leader of the protesters, Filip Lacic, who had been lightly injured while resisting arrest last week, had not been apprehended, although a police officer stood in front of his hospital room where Lacic had been treated. After he let the protesters into the chapel, Lacic said the police had once again showed its brutality and lack of patience on Tuesday, and had attacked the protesters in a cowardly manner because of a mere banner. "We are prepared to follow this through, even exit the chapel. Let them arrest us. But we call on them to be reasonable and hold talks with us," Lacic said. (hina) lml sb