ZAGREB, Nov 5 (Hina) - Croatian Interior Minister Sime Lucin on Monday handed to State Archive director Josip Kolanovic some 38,000 files of the former Socialist Republic of Croatia's Security Service and granted access to some 650
files of the Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order (SZUP) to persons the files refer to. The documents include files compiled by the security service of the former Yugoslavia in the period between 1946 and 1990 and files compiled by the SZUP in the period between Croatia's establishment as an independent state and the change of authority at last year's January 3 election. The SZUP files also include notes about the surveillance of 120 reporters, Minister Lucin said. Those files, as well as some documents dating back to the former Yugoslavia do not contain data on national security but were categorised under political violence and internal enemies, Lucin said.
ZAGREB, Nov 5 (Hina) - Croatian Interior Minister Sime Lucin on
Monday handed to State Archive director Josip Kolanovic some 38,000
files of the former Socialist Republic of Croatia's Security
Service and granted access to some 650 files of the Service for the
Protection of the Constitutional Order (SZUP) to persons the files
refer to.
The documents include files compiled by the security service of the
former Yugoslavia in the period between 1946 and 1990 and files
compiled by the SZUP in the period between Croatia's establishment
as an independent state and the change of authority at last year's
January 3 election.
The SZUP files also include notes about the surveillance of 120
reporters, Minister Lucin said. Those files, as well as some
documents dating back to the former Yugoslavia do not contain data
on national security but were categorised under political violence
and internal enemies, Lucin said.
As of today, citizens who were under surveillance will be granted
access to the SZUP documents which do not concern national
security, Lucin said. Those citizens will be contacted in the next
several weeks to see their files, in which the names of third
persons will be blotted out. Once they have inspected their files,
the files will be destroyed, Lucin said.
Lucin added that files on some people suspected of having been under
surveillance were missing.
Recalling that this is the third hand-over of police files since
1993, State Archive director Kolanovic said the documents were
divided into personal and encoded files. The Archive has determined
regulations on the inspection procedure, Kolanovic said, adding
citizens had so far submitted some 800 requests seeking access to
around 28,000 files the Archive had received so far. However, data
on only 269 persons have been found in the files. The data were used
mostly for scientific purposes and only some 70 citizens requested
access to their personal data.
Although the new authorities announced the hand-over and opening of
the SZUP files shortly after last year's election, one had to wait
for the adoption of a new law on police so that the files could be
handed over and opened, Lucin said.
(hina) rml