ZAGREB, 21 Nov, 2021 - A police official in the Zagreb police department, Davor Posilović, said on Sunday that the police were intensively searching for the organisers of Saturday's march staged by anti-vaccine certificate protesters, since the rally was not officially reported.

The police are also searching for assailants who physically attacked a reporter of the RTL commercial broadcaster while he was covering the demonstrations

Intensive actions are being taken to identify potential organisers and to take appropriate steps against them, Posilović told a press conference in Zagreb on Sunday afternoon.

The failure of organisers to report the rally in advance amounts to the violation of the legislation on public assembly.

The police official added pyrotechnic devices had been used during the rally, the organisers failed to bring security guards and the decision on the restrictions of public assembly was breached.

A report on verbal and physical violence against RTL reporter Goran Latković has been lodged with the police in the meantime.

CCTV and video footage of the incident will be examined to identify the perpetrators and the police will interview all witnesses.

 "We are in permanent touch with the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) and other professional associations," Posilović said, adding that all who have any information about the incident can contact the police.

Posilović said that no other incidents targeted against media had been reported to the police.

Nova TV and HTV crews were verbally assaulted at the rally, while a group of protesters took Al Jazeera reporter Nikolina Zavišić's microphone as she was reporting live.

On Saturday evening a group of protesters moved from Zagreb's central square to the part of the city where the HRT public broadcaster is located, demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live and calling for an end to "censorship" by the HRT.

Dissatisfied with the way the HRT covered their protest in the central city square at 3 p.m., the protesters shouted "We want elections", "Referendum and people's rule", "Thieves", "Treason", "God's law is above all laws", demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live. "This is no vaccine, this is poison", someone in the crowd could be heard saying while some protesters said the world was ruled by "Bill Gates, Talmudists and Soros's followers".

The protesters were met by riot police, with a dozen police vehicles blocking access to the HRT building.

Posilović said that demonstrators in the main square also burnt a flag of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) during the protest and that an investigation in this case was under way.

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ZAGREB, 21 Nov, 2021 - Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter on Saturday evening condemned in the strongest terms the violence and assaults against TV crews that were covering the march organised by anti-vaccine certificate protesters in Zagreb earlier in the day.

Šimonović Einwalter said in a press release that she condemned attempts by demonstrators to prevent reporters from doing their job while they were covering the rally in Zagreb's main square.

She also urges the authorities, including the law enforcement authorities and the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH), to thoroughly investigate the incidents and violence so that perpetrators can be held to account. In this way, the society will receive an unequivocal message about zero tolerance to violence against anybody, particularly against persons who do their job in the interest of the public, Šimonović Einwalter said.

The freedom of expression and particularly the freedom of he press is guaranteed by the constitution, she recalls.

Freedom of assembly and the right to to peacefully assemble do not exclude other human rights and they also do not justify verbal, physical and other violence, she writes in the press release.

A reporter of the RTL commercial broadcaster, Goran Latković, was attacked by two unidentified persons from behind as he was covering the rally, and they slapped him across the face twice, while a third person hit him in the rib cage.

Also, Nova TV and HTV crews were verbally assaulted at the rally, while a group of protesters took Al Jazeera reporter Nikolina Zavišić's microphone as she was reporting live.

On Saturday evening a group of protesters moved from Zagreb's central square to the part of the city where the HRT public broadcaster is located, demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live and calling for an end to "censorship" by the HRT.

Dissatisfied with the way the HRT covered their protest in the central city square at 3 p.m., the protesters shouted "We want elections", "Referendum and people's rule", "Thieves", "Treason", "God's law is above all laws", demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live. "This is no vaccine, this is poison", someone in the crowd could be heard saying while some protesters said the world was ruled by "Bill Gates, Talmudists and Soros's followers".

The protesters were met by riot police, with a dozen police vehicles blocking access to the HRT building.

Violence against reporters condemned by office-holders, associations, political parties

The Croatian Journalists Association (HND) and the Croatian Journalists Union (SNH) on Saturday strongly condemned an attack on RTL reporter Goran Latković at the protest, demanding a prompt police investigation and calling on the government to unequivocally condemn the incident.

The attacks by protesters on media workers were also condemned by the government spokesman, the minister of culture and the Office of the President.

The Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) said on Saturday evening that the freedom to assembly did not include the right to violence and said that the attacks against reporters "resemble dark times" and called on all the political parties to stand up for the protection of the journalistic profession."

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ZAGREB, 20 Nov, 2021 - Researcher Gordan Lauc, a former member of the government's Scientific Council, said on Saturday evening that he had not called for protests against vaccinations and COVID certificates in his social networks posts and that he did not feel responsible for the incidents during the protest.

Lauc told the the Nova TV broadcaster on Saturday evening that he actually said in his posts that "COVID certificates are wrong. I told the vociferous majority that their voice should be heard. That they should share my post, that they should write to media outlets to the government, that they should turn out at protest rallies in line with law."

He went on to say that it was not him who called on people to join the protest rally held in Zagreb on Saturday afternoon against vaccines and against COVID certificates and underscored that he did not feel responsible for the incidents which had occurred during the demonstrations organised by anti-vaxxers when protesters were trying to prevent reporters to cover the rally in Zagreb's main square.

Lauc said he was sure that 99.9% of demonstrators had expressed their dissatisfaction in a peaceful and legal manner.

He added that every form of violence, both verbal and physical, should be condemned.

"Things should be settled through institution, the system, the exchange of arguments and by making logical decisions."

He said that the decision on the COVID certificate mandate was wrong. The measure was designed in the European Union, when we believed that the vaccinated people could not spread the virus.

This creates a false feeling of security, Lauc added.

While claiming that the vaccination against coronavirus would not lessen the strain on hospitals, he admitted that he was fully vaccinated after he had recovered this infectious disease.

He explained that he had received two shots to make it easier for him to travel abroad and also due to the fact that he had underlying conditions.

"Vaccination will not halt the spread of the pandemic. Getting vaccinated will reduce the risks of vaccinated individuals. All of us will caught the virus," he said.

Lauc used to be a member of the government's scientific think tank, however, the government decided to dismiss him from that body, after he said that he was against the mandatory COVID certificates for entry into state and public institutions.

The Croatian Chamber of Physicians and some members of the said think tank already warned about controversial statements made by Lauc and the chamber welcomed the decision to relieve  Lauc of the membership of the government's scientific council.

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ZAGREB, 20 Nov, 2021 - Protesters against COVID-19 certificates on Saturday evening moved from Zagreb's central square to the part of the city where the HRT public broadcaster is located, demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live and calling for an end to "censorship" by the HRT.

Dissatisfied with the way the HRT covered their protest in the central city square at 3 p.m., the protesters shouted "We want elections", "Referendum and people's rule", "Thieves", "Treason", "God's law is above all laws", demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live.

The protesters were met by riot police, with a dozen police vehicles blocking access to the HRT building.

Some of the protesters demanded to see the editor in chief and that the protest be broadcast live, claiming that the HRT "cannot be a factory of censorship" and that "the HRT is lying to the Croatian people, spreading fear and enemy propaganda."

Claiming that they did not want to force anything on anyone and did not want others to do it to them, and shouting "We want truth" and "People rules" and singing patriotic songs, they continued to demand a response by the HRT, saying that "people want to say what they think" and the public broadcaster has the duty to report about it.

"This is no vaccine, this is poison", someone in the crowd could be heard saying while some protesters said the world was ruled by "Bill Gates, Talmudists and Soros's followers".

An HRT employee told the protesters that there was no one in the building they could talk to, to which they responded with shouts however the protest continued mostly without incidents and around 8 p.m. the protesters started to disperse.

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