President Milanović on Croatian nationals in Greece: The guilty ones should stand trial, the rest should be charged with misdemeanour and go home because they can’t be detained for months
“It’s not easy for the Government, after a few days the Prime Minister said exactly what I had said. He too finds it suspicious. We are waiting to see what exactly they are charged with. They can’t keep you deprived of liberty without a legal basis. That’s one of the cornerstones of European civil law, that liberty. In the case of these ruffians of ours habeas corpus has been grossly violated. I don’t see that as rule of law but as mass retaliation against one ethnic group, a specific national group”, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated today when asked by journalists whether he is satisfied with the Croatian Government’s involvement in the case of the Croatian nationals imprisoned in Greece.
“They rounded up all the Croatian supporters and put them behind bars. And now they are trying to fit the Bad Blue Boys and their behaviour into some kind of collective criminal offence that results from being affiliated to an organisation”, President Milanović explained. He added that you do not keep one hundred people in prison for organising fights and that organising with the intent of taking someone’s life is unprovable. “Because I am certain that no one went there with that intent. In other words, it’s just politics. Unfortunately, we are used to this in those parts of Europe, and the Government couldn’t do anything about it. This should be said publicly,” President Milanović underlined.
“I said ok for the first five days that someone could be held in prison in Greece. In those five days the wheat should be separated from the chaff. After that, put those who are guilty on trial, and let the rest go home with a misdemeanour charge. But you can’t detain someone and deprive them of their liberty for weeks and months. That’s out of the question”, the President noted, underlining once again that this is a political farce in which the Croatian Government must demonstrate and create the impression that it has done everything it possibly can, yet can’t do much.
“This matter should be addressed by the European Parliament! Where are our Members of the EU Parliament? They’re not in session. Well I shouldn’t be the one talking about this, but I’m glad that Prime Minister Plenković and I agreed on one crucial thing – this is unacceptable. Those are our people, our rascals, they’re not war criminals”, President Milanović concluded.