February 11th, 2022 - The Croatian justice system is said to be slow and ineffective, but it sure acts swiftly in some cases.
A 28-year-old man named Petar was declared guilty and sentenced to prison for having begged for money in front of a Konzum store in Nova Gradiška.
Petar was asking passersby for money in November last year. The judge sentenced him to five days in prison, and the money he had earned that day was confiscated, 24sata reports.
It’s described in the verdict that the beggar was ‘standing at the front door, holding out the palm of his left hand with some coins, begging citizens who were entering or leaving [the store] for money, saying he had no income or anything to eat, eliciting compassion from citizens.'
The court declared him guilty of committing a violation of the Act on Misdemeanors against Public Order and Peace, which classifies the act of begging as a misdemeanor punishable by fine or up to 30 days in prison. Petar must report to prison when summoned by the court, when the verdict becomes final.
It is also said in the verdict that the proceeds of the misdemeanor in the amount of HRK 84.30 are to be seized from the defendant and must be paid into the State Budget of the Republic of Croatia within 15 days.
Petar also has to reimburse the costs of misdemeanor court proceedings in the amount of 100 kuna; failure to do so will result in enforcement proceedings. He did not appear in court, did not send a defense lawyer to represent him, and did not inform the court of a change of address.
A police officer who was questioned in the proceedings said that on the day in question the citizens reported that the man was begging in front of the entrance to Konzum.
He described going to the site of the reported misdemeanor and finding Petar in front of the entrance with the outstretched palm of his left hand containing the coins he received from citizens.
The police officer added that Petar was invoking his difficult living conditions in order to elicit compassion.
‘I found 84.30 kuna in coins on the defendant which he received from citizens. I confiscated them and they were paid into the state budget. The defendant often begs at Konzum and in the passage near the open market’, the officer said.
