Milan Bandic, Zagreb's long-time mayor who has seen (and indeed caused) his fair share of controversy over the years is once again the subject of a protest held in the very heart of the Croatian capital city, following a recent one held at the tail end of 2019.
As Glas Istre writes on the 4th of January, 2020, thousands of people gathered today from 16:00 onwards on Zagreb's central Ban Jelacic square to protest against Milan Bandic. The protesters shouted: "Bandic to go" and chanted: ''Prison''.
The banners carried by protesters read: "Only in Zagreb can a rat survive for nineteen years", "You're guilty", "Mafia go home" and more in their show of solidarity against Milan Bandic and his murky track record as the seemingly untouchable (at least previously) mayor of Zagreb.
The protest was organised by citizens via Facebook and this, as previously mentioned, is the second protest of its kind. The first protest was organised the day before citizens went to vote in the polls during the first round, and this one takes place the day before the second round of the Croatian presidential elections.
In front of the assembled protesters, they read out the names of the mayor's associates and people considered to be "Bandic's pawns". The crowds also chanted: Mafia, Mafia!
''This is not the last protest. This is not the end, we're just getting started. Thank you to everyone who came,'' the organisers said, and those gathered greeted these words with a chant: Verdict, verdict.
The date of the next protest was also announced for January the 28th, 2020, in front of Zagreb County Court, during a hearing in one of the proceedings launched against Milan Bandic, which you can read more about here as we detail the trials of various Croatian politicians and tycoons due to begin or end in the coming year.
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