ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Everything can be used for creating a political case, and protesters in St Mark's Square are also being exploited for such purpose, Croatian Premier Ivica Racan said during question time in parliament on
Wednesday.
ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Everything can be used for creating a
political case, and protesters in St Mark's Square are also being
exploited for such purpose, Croatian Premier Ivica Racan said
during question time in parliament on Wednesday. #L#
A representative of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Zdenka
Petricevic Babic, reminded the Sabor that discharged police
officers had been protesting in the square for 183 days, and posed
the question whether it was their right to stage a protest or their
treatment reflected somebody's revenge-seeking towards those who
had taken part in the Homeland Defence war.
Last week, the interior ministry banned the protest, and after the
action of special police units, remaining six protesters found
shelter in the chapel of St. Mark's Church. They have announced that
they will remain in the church until their re-employment in the
police.
In response to the question about this case, Premier Racan said the
government had spent a great amount of time in the last few months
trying to solve the problem of the unassigned police officers, and a
special commission had been set up to tackle the matter, but the
protesters refused to choose their representative to that body.
Racan said there had been some political forces that stimulated the
policemen-protesters to turn down every solution.
Interior Minister Sime Lucin said that neither police nor the
government had responded to the protest as long as it had been
within certain frameworks.
Asked by MP Petricevic-Babic why the last week the police nabbed and
injured a policeman-protester, Filip Lacic, in that operation, and
why Josip Tuk was arrested yesterday, Minister Lucin reiterated the
chronology of the entire case, and recalled that one of the
protesters tried twice to hit Premier with eggs and a yoghurt.
In the house of that person, 18 kilograms of explosive was found and
there is a danger that on the third occasion that man may throw
something other than eggs, Lucin said.
He claimed that several protesters were advocating the interest of
about 30 dismissed policemen, and 13 of them had a total of 47
charges pressed for their disciplinary offences, ranging from
traffic offences to abuse.
Josip Turk, who was apprehended yesterday, has nine charges, five
of which are grave, Lucin said adding that this is "not the matter of
the social welfare but of politics."
The minister said the protest was not in line with the spirit of law,
as the ongoing rally was not reported.
The HDZ MP then asked Lucin to offer his resignation immediately,
and the minister did not respond to the demand.
(hina) ms sb