Zagreb police on Saturday afternoon took into custody 26 protesters, including members of the Bad Blue Boys group of football supporters, who clashed with the police in an attempt to reach St. Mark's Square, where the government is located, from Zagreb's main Trg Bana Jelacica square, after a war veterans' rally there which ended around 3.10 pm.
According to eyewitnesses, about 500 young demonstrators were throwing rocks, chairs and other items at the police, after which special police used force, including tear gas, to push them back towards the main square.
The organising committee of the veterans' rally tried to calm the situation, telling the police not to "beat up Croatian children."
Police said the situation was calm now and that police and the protesters were not clashing any more. Only small groups of protesters were around the main square, with special police were securing the area.
The police could not say how many protesters had clashed with them or how many protesters and officers had been injured or how seriously.
The police also had no information yet about the damage caused to nearby buildings and shop windows.
Zagreb police spokeswoman Jelena Bikic said the protesters who clashed with the police in an attempt to break through a police cordon were not the veterans who were protesting in the main square, but protesters from Facebook and members of the Bad Blue Boys.
Bikic said they were throwing Bengal fireworks and rocks at the police, adding they were probably trying to reach St. Mark's Square, where public assembly is prohibited, or just to clash with the police.
Protesters and police have probably both been injured, said Bikic.
The protest rally "Stop to the prosecution of Croatian war veterans," which was organised in Trg Bana Jelacica square by the Croatian War Veterans 1990-1996 Association, drew about 15,000 people.
The protesters voiced numerous criticisms of the incumbent government as well as criticisms and insults against representatives of 17 Homeland War associations who held a working meeting at the Police Academy.
One of the speakers at the rally was Petar Janjic, introduced as a Croatian army colonel, who condemned in strong terms the government's policy towards the veterans, notably in the case of Tihomir Purda, who is in custody in Bosnia pending a State Court decision on Serbia's request for his extradition over war crimes charges.
Many speakers criticised the government and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, interrupted by the protesters shouting "Betrayal" and "Jaca, go away" - a reference to Kosor.
