Some 200 protesters gathered in front of the Croatian Foreign Ministry's building in Zagreb, most of whom were young activists, carrying banners with messages "Stop ACTA" and "Stop the Censorship of the Internet". Some of the demonstrators were wearing Anonymous masks.

One of activists with that mask told reporters that the adoption of the ACTA would jeopardise freedom on the last free communication channel - the Internet. He said that the purpose of the agreement which some pundits described as controversial, was to control the content and users rather than protecting the intellectual property rights.

The Croatian government has recently announced the launching of a public debate on the matter.

Deputy Foreign Minister Josko Klisovic told reporters covering the rally that the motion was not yet on the government's agenda and that a public debate would precede any decision concerning the matter. Klisovic added that the government was willing to talk with the treaty's opponents and today's demonstrators said that a working group would be set up for the talks with the authorities.

After the rally in front of the foreign ministry, the protesters took a stroll through the city and stopped for a short period in front of the Culture Ministry that has responsibility for the agreement.

In Osijek, also some 200 activists, mainly young people, gathered in the central square for the protest rally. One of the activists called on President Ivo Josipovic to carefully read the text of the ACTA, as he deemed the agreement not innocuous.

The protestors believe that the ACTA was an excuse to curtail the freedom of expression. They also announced the resumption of protests.

In Rijeka there were some 100 protestors.

Hackers who are critics of the ACTA on Saturday again attacked the website of the office of the Croatian President, which was why the website was not available for some time in the morning. The attack was most probably carried out by members of the hacker group called Anonymous, who had announced that they would hack it ahead of Saturday's protests against the signing of the controversial international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement which regulates the protection of intellectual property rights. The President's website was also attacked on Thursday, at about 2240 hours, when it was unavailable for about an hour. The Anonymous group told media that they had carried out the attack.

President Josipovic said on his Facebook profile on Friday that it was necessary to protect intellectual property and stop piracy, adding that the Internet must remain a free platform for communication, for the further development of creativity, economy, society and democracy, and for exchanging views.

"Piracy, especially if it is for commercial purposes, needs to be stopped. In that way we protect creativity and encourage economic development," Josipovic wrote.

ACTA was signed on October 1, 2011 by Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. In January 2012 they were joined by the European Union and 22 of its member states, while some postponed ratifying it. The Croatian government has announced that there will be a public debate on the matter.

Anti-ACTA rallies were scheduled for Saturday in Europe.