ZAGREB, 17 Oct, 2021- A recent court ruling under which a 55-year-old man from Knin was found guilty of vagrancy and given a conditional sentence of 15 days in prison has brought attention to the issue of vagrancy in Croatia, which has increased by 20 percent this year compared with last year, Večernji List newspaper said earlier this week.

According to data provided by the Ministry of the Interior, 408 persons were reported for vagrancy and begging in 2020, while 490 such cases were recorded in the first eight months of this year, the newspaper said, noting that vagrancy is an offence under the Public Order and Peace Offences Act.

In Croatia, vagrancy is punishable by a fine of between 25 and 100 euros or a prison sentence of up to 30 days. The Knin man was given a conditional prison term of 15 days, but he will not go to prison if he does not repeat this or similar offence over the next year. The 60 kuna (8 euros) he "earned" by begging was taken away from him and will be returned to the injured parties. Because of his financial situation, he was exempted from paying court costs, Večernji List said.

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