ZAGREB, 1 Feb 2022 - The Zagreb County State Attorney's Office said on Tuesday it had expanded the investigation into Marko Francišković, one of the leaders of last year's protests against COVID certificates suspected of publicly inciting to terrorism with his wife's help.

Francišković, 52, who is in custody, is suspected on two counts of publicly inciting to terrorism and his wife, 29, on one count.

The state attorney's office said the two are suspected of acting together in Zagreb and Zadar from 16 to 22 December with the aim to undermine constitutional, political, economic and social structures.

At that time, Francišković was already in custody. Exercising his right to speak to his wife on the phone, he dictated public calls on citizens to violently overthrow those structures, which she then posted on an Internet platform.

The state attorney's office has banned his wife from accessing the Internet and required her to report to the police on a regular basis.

Francišković was remanded in custody by a Zagreb County Court in early December on suspicion of publicly inciting to terrorism. The other suspect, Natko Kovačević, was released.

They are suspected of speaking at protests against COVID restrictions last November with the aim to undermine constitutional, political, economic and social structures, and of using Internet platforms to call on citizens to protest across Croatia, assault members of the government and parliament, take over the public broadcaster and other public buildings and infrastructure, and use force to fight against legal institutions, change the constitutional order and remove legally elected authorities.

ZAGREB, 11 Sept, 2021 - Croatia remembers the victims of the 9/11 attacks, extending its condolences to the families and expressing solidarity with the United States and the American people, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković wrote on Twitter on Saturday. 

"The evil of terrorism is a global threat that we can eradicate through joint action and cooperation," Plenković said on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

Three thousand people were killed in attacks by the Al-Qaeda terrorist group on 11 September 2001 after terrorists hijacked three aircraft and deliberately crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft from the hijackers.  

The 20th anniversary falls less than two weeks after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the longest US war in history, launched in retaliation against the al-Qaeda conspirators and leaders and the Taliban who gave them refuge.

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ZAGREB, 16 July 2021 - The Croatian government on Friday adopted a report on the activities of the Anti-Money Laundering Office in 2020, when 403 cases relating to money laundering and terrorism financing were opened and 254 of them were referred to the relevant authorities.

Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said that the Office had launched 403 cases of suspected money laundering and terrorism financing.

Of that number, 254 cases were referred to the relevant authorities for further action, with 249 cases relating to money laundering and five relating to terrorism financing, he added.

The Office inspected more than 4,000 transactions in reference to the 254 forwarded cases and more than a thousand physical and legal persons who participated in those transactions, he said.

The Office operates within the Ministry of Finance. It issued 46 instructions to banks to block suspect transfers with a total value of HRK 33.8 million. It also submitted 130 requests to 42 countries as part of of international cooperation and received 114 such requests from 37 countries.

Marić recalled that the Register of Beneficial Ownership became operational at the start of this year and that the government had adopted a national risk assessment for money laundering and terrorism financing on 25 June 2020, along with an action plan to reduce the identified risks.

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