Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic told Croatian Radio Television on Tuesday evening that the government acknowledged the criticism made by nongovernmental organisation, adding that a bill on public assembly would allow up to 1,500 protesters to gather in St Mark's Square, where the government building is located.
A public discussion on the new Public Assembly Bill was held in Zagreb on Tuesday, at which NGOs demanded that proposed measures relating to public assembly in St Mark's Square, which is the seat of the government and Parliament, should be thrown out as unconstitutional.
Minister Ostojic said that the government tried to find a measure between the election promise of the ruling coalition that St Mark's Square would be open to protest rallies and the need to ensure the unobstructed work of the institutions there.
Under the first bill, drafted by the Ministry of the Interior, after nearly seven years of ban, citizens would again be allowed to hold protests in the square, but their number would be limited to a maximum of 250 protesters who would have to keep at least 20 metres away from the buildings housing the Croatian Parliament, Government and Constitutional Court. Protests would need to be announced ten days in advance, and not five as is now the case, and protesters would be allowed to express their views at a designated place in the square between 8am and 10pm.
