CONSUMER ASSOCIATIONS FILE CHARGES AGAINST LINIC, HT MANAGEMENT

ZAGREB, Aug 22 (Hina) - The coordination of consumer protection associations reported today that it has filed charges against Vice- Premier Slavko Linic, chairman and deputy chairman of the Croatian Telecommunications (HT) management, Ivica Mudrinic and Hans Schubert, HT spokesman Mladen Jurleka, and his deputy Jure Sulentic, for "deluding the public with untruthful statements about price increases in HT telephone services". By claiming HT's prices would rise from 12 to 24 percent, they deluded the Croatian public "with falsifying information and covering up facts with the aim of obtaining illegal gain," which is punishable by law with six months' to five years in prison, the coordination said. According to the consumers' associations, the prices of HT services will rise from 50 to 60 percent, and even 150 percent for those who have been using the telephone sparingly. The Croatian Association for the Protection of Consumers and the Croatian Association for Initiatives in Democracy stressed that they decided to file charges after both the HT and the government turned a blind eye to public protests and failed to offer a credible explanation for the tariff changes. The only exception, they asserted, is Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac, who announced "the government's decision would be reviewed if the government was misled". (hina) lml