ZAGREB, April 14, 2020 - Charges have been pressed against four persons for attacking journalists in Split on Sunday, and 13 persons who carried an inappropriate banner have been identified, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said in an interview with the public broadcaster HRT on Monday evening.
A female journalist and a camerawoman were attacked outside a parish church in the Sirobuja suburb of Split on Sunday where a Mass was held despite the ban on public gatherings over the coronavirus epidemic. Criminal charges have been brought against three persons for using violence against persons performing a public duty, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, while one person faces misdemeanour charges for disturbing the peace.
Police have also identified 13 persons, including a minor, who subsequently gathered outside the church and displayed unacceptable behaviour and insignia, Božinović said. Two of them will be prosecuted under the Public Order Act, one under the Explosive Substances Act for setting off a flare, while the rest will be reported to the State Inspectorate for violating the measures imposed by the national civil protection authority as part of efforts to curb the coronavirus epidemic.
"There will be no concessions made, especially when it comes to officials and journalists, who are actually one of the most important links in the chain of defence against the coronavirus. Without them everything that the civil protection authority says would not reach the citizens, and we can see that a vast majority of citizens adhere to these measures to protect themselves and others," the minister said.
Asked about a possible relaxation of the emergency measures, Božinović said that there were still a lot of unknowns about this novel virus and that it was difficult to predict when the measures would be eased. He said that the number of infections would need to fall for five to seven days, while this number in Croatia was still fluctuating. He said that it was not yet time to lift the restrictions.
"We discuss this every day, and this is not an arbitrary decision of the government and the civil protection authority. If we all make our contribution and behave in accordance with the epidemiological measures, we will sooner reach a point where it will be possible to relax some of the measures," Božinović said.
He said that 23 police officers were currently infected with the virus, 210 had completed self-isolation and 123 were still in self-isolation.
More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
