PUBLIC GATHERINGS IN EASTERN CROATIA BANNED UNTIL 1 AUGUST

( Editorial: --> 9132 ) ZAGREB, Mar 12 (Hina) - The implementation of the peaceful reintegration of the Danube River region of eastern Croatia is one of Croatia's chief interests, the government assessed Thursday at a closed session chaired by Premier Zlatko Matesa. Any act that might imperil public peace and order, and the safety of people and property, calls for imperative and legal restrictions on the right to public gathering and peaceful protests, the Croatian Government concluded. According to a statement from the government's Communications Office, the government bound the Interior Minister to issue a compulsory instruction under which police departments in the Danube region will, in line with a regulation of the Law on Public Gathering, ban all public gatherings until 1 August 1998, with the exception of gatherings mentioned in the Law's Article Three. Article Three of the Law on Public Gatherings states that religious rites, habitual public manifestations, funeral processions, habitual meetings and seminars, trade union and other similar gatherings taking place in closed spaces and to which access is limited, need not be reported. Habitual entertainment and sports gatherings held in appropriate spaces, habitual gatherings, conferences, forums, round tables or gatherings of registered political parties taking place in closed spaces, need not be reported either, the Article says. In other instances, the public gathering must be reported to competent bodies at least 48 hours before it is scheduled to begin. Bodies of local self-government may determine the place where the gathering can be held, Article Three says. At today's session, the Government passed a decision on criteria for choosing associations whose activity is of interest to Croatia and on financial support to associations from the state budget. The government appointed a commission for negotiations between the governments of Croatia and the Bosnian Serb entity which will focus on the resolution of the refugee issue. (hina) ha mm /mb 121824 MET mar 98