ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - Croatian Police Chief Ranko Ostojic on Wednesday refuted claims which labelled the recent action to take minors of the street during late night hours as "an extraordinary and off-and-on" stating that in the
past three years since the relevant law came in force, the police intervened about three thousand times.
ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - Croatian Police Chief Ranko Ostojic on
Wednesday refuted claims which labelled the recent action to take
minors of the street during late night hours as "an extraordinary
and off-and-on" stating that in the past three years since the
relevant law came in force, the police intervened about three
thousand times. #L#
Ostojic said this during a round table organised by the Croatian
Helsinki Committee (HHO) entitled "The Police Curfew for Minors".
HHO President Zarko Puhovski said that the public reaction to the
police action to control the movement of minors without the company
of their parents after 11 p.m. was the reason to gather
representatives of the police, relevant ministries and Sabor
committees as well as sociologists, pedagogues, psychiatrists and
judges for minors at this round table.
Puhovski wondered whether indeed it was necessary for the police to
take such steps and if this was not just the remnants of peasant
logic that says that immoral deeds occur when the sun goes down.
Several hours of discussion offered support for the police action.
They who do not agree with the action however questioned the sense
of bans.
Ostojic believes that it was not normal for the public to be shocked
because the police acted according to the law when they removed
minors from the streets during late night hours.
He added that the recent police action in Zagreb was not conducted
in spurts but it was rather regular police work.
Provisions of the Family Law that prohibit minors from going out on
to the streets alone after 11 p.m. have been in force since the end
of 1999 and the police have intervened around three thousand times.
The first year there were 146 interventions, in 2000 were 991 and
last year 973. This year there have been 733 interventions.
The police does not wish to nab children but warn parents of their
obligation, Ostojic said.
The action had a preventative nature because it was announced and
the public was made aware of it because journalists gave it good
media coverage, Ostojic said.
Refuting claims by Puhovski about shocking arrests of children and
throwing them into police vans, Ostojic said that there was not one
official complaint against the police in their treatment during the
action.
Ostojic agreed to an objection that the action should have involved
social welfare centres similarly to the action executed in
Medimurje County.
Assistant Labour and Social Welfare Minister Nino Zganec believes
that support should be offered to any action aimed at helping
minors. He disagreed with the title of the roundtable because as he
thought, the action was undoubtedly given a negative connotation.
Zganec believes that the problem of the increasing number of
behavioural disturbances amongst children cannot be solved by the
police without the co-operation of social services, the media and
in particular, parents.
(hina) sp sb