Lately I have been getting tired from countless USA-related threads in the General Discussion forum. Elections, terrorism, democracy, foreign policies, Iraq... this forum is being systematically and brutally bombarded by an endless stream of posts dissecting same American issues over and over again, while issues of other countries are pushed aside and it seems that nothing in the world exists anymore but United States and their problems. So today, when I saw the nth reply to the mth topic about America, I banged my fist on the desk and said: "THAT DOES IT!" No more American domination! I don't care if they rule the world, I won't bloody let them rule this forum as well!
But since there is no rule that forbids people from discussing American issues, even when these discussions are ubiquitous, repetitive and pointless, I decided to break the monotony of American mind control and start my own thread - a thread about Croatia! In this thread you will receive daily reports and analysis of various events and trends in Croatian politics, economy and foreign policies. You will learn what scandals are currently trembling the Croatian political scene, what problems ail the common Croatian man, what tragic accidents happened that day and a variety of other information you don't care about. Fellow NMA-ers, welcome to Cro-Report!
So, without further ado, let the reporting commence!
The council concludes: POA hasn't overstepped its authority
The Council for Civilian Oversight of Security Services has today officially deemed that POA (Croatian counter-intelligence agency) didn't operate outside legal limits when they apprehended and interrogated Helena Puljiz, a freelance journalist. Helena Puljiz, who used to report from the office of the Croatian president Stipe Mesic, was run in for questioning by a couple of POA agents last week. They arrested her without a warrant and held her in captivity for several hours without informing her of her legal rights. They demanded she tell them about the period she had spent in president's office, specifically about the president's former advisor Zeljko Bagic (who was retired by the president and is currently prohibited from entering the European Union for his alleged role in aiding the fugitive Ante Gotovina, retired Croatian general who is wanted by the Hague Tribunal for war crimes). They also inquired about her private life, and in the course of the interrogation it became obvious they knew a great deal of personal information about her that they could have obtained only through illegitimate surveillance over an extended period of time. The manner in which the agents conducted the interrogation was arrogant and hostile. It culminated when they attempted to recruit her into POA and threatened to destroy her career if she disagrees. Disgusted by their offer to turn her into a pawn and irritated by the manner in which it was proposed, Puljiz refused, after which the agents released her.
Helena Puljiz with Stipe Mesic, the president of Croatia
The following day, she reported everything to the Croatian Journalist Society and the Council for Civilian Oversight of Security Services, a civilian comittee that's supposed to prevent misuse of secret agencies for political goals and ensure that all agencies operate within bounds of law. Anyone familiar with Croatian intelligence services knows that such a body is an absolute necessity - since the day Croatia was founded as a sovereign country, these organizations have operated in complete secrecy, without any transparency or civilian control, and since the war they serve mostly as political police for those in power. They illegally survey 'objectionable' journalists and political dissidents, infiltrate public media, political parties and human rights organizations, and on multiple ocassions certain elements from intelligence underground were involved in downright criminal activities, such as drug trade, extortion, assaults, aiding fugitive war criminals etc. In early 2004 Franjo Turek, former chief of POA, was relieved of duty and replaced by Josko Podbevsek, member of Croatian Democratic Union (or HDZ - the party that currently rules Croatia), loyal to the current prime minister Ivo Sanader. As a result, POA became Sanader's private police. The fact that agents who interrogated Puljiz inquired about the time she spent working near president Mesic is indicative - namely, Croatian presidential elections are mere weeks away, and Sanader most likely ordered POA to dig up some dirt on Mesic and enable victory of his party's candidate (who is, by the way, an idiot).
Josko Podbevsek, chief of POA
However, after much procrastrinating, the Council today announced that POA did nothing wrong, and thereby officially declared that in Croatia it is legal to spy and arbitrarily arrest common people. This is no surprise - chairman Vlatko Cvrtila is a personal friend of former chief Turek, and his council exists only to give legitimacy to government oppression and illicit practices of the intelligence services. It is also no surprise that conclusions of the Council have already been confirmed by the parliamentary Committee for Internal Affairs and National Security, since president of said comittee is none other than Ivan Jarnjak of HDZ, former minister of internal affairs (relieved of duty in 1997 when he got on late president Tudjman's bad side) who ordered SZUP (Service for Protection of Constitutional Order - old name of POA) to survey thousands of journalists and human rights activists during the '90s, and practically introduced the modus operandi of Croatian secret services.
This affair won't be swept under the carpet so easily, however. Helena Puljiz and the Croatian Journalist Society have announced their intent to report this incident to the European Federation of Journalists and the European Commission, which could lead to an international scandal and slow down Croatian entry into the European Union - something Sanader and his band of corrupt demagogues (usually referred to as the 'Government of Republic Croatia') will be desperate to avoid.
But since there is no rule that forbids people from discussing American issues, even when these discussions are ubiquitous, repetitive and pointless, I decided to break the monotony of American mind control and start my own thread - a thread about Croatia! In this thread you will receive daily reports and analysis of various events and trends in Croatian politics, economy and foreign policies. You will learn what scandals are currently trembling the Croatian political scene, what problems ail the common Croatian man, what tragic accidents happened that day and a variety of other information you don't care about. Fellow NMA-ers, welcome to Cro-Report!
So, without further ado, let the reporting commence!
The council concludes: POA hasn't overstepped its authority
The Council for Civilian Oversight of Security Services has today officially deemed that POA (Croatian counter-intelligence agency) didn't operate outside legal limits when they apprehended and interrogated Helena Puljiz, a freelance journalist. Helena Puljiz, who used to report from the office of the Croatian president Stipe Mesic, was run in for questioning by a couple of POA agents last week. They arrested her without a warrant and held her in captivity for several hours without informing her of her legal rights. They demanded she tell them about the period she had spent in president's office, specifically about the president's former advisor Zeljko Bagic (who was retired by the president and is currently prohibited from entering the European Union for his alleged role in aiding the fugitive Ante Gotovina, retired Croatian general who is wanted by the Hague Tribunal for war crimes). They also inquired about her private life, and in the course of the interrogation it became obvious they knew a great deal of personal information about her that they could have obtained only through illegitimate surveillance over an extended period of time. The manner in which the agents conducted the interrogation was arrogant and hostile. It culminated when they attempted to recruit her into POA and threatened to destroy her career if she disagrees. Disgusted by their offer to turn her into a pawn and irritated by the manner in which it was proposed, Puljiz refused, after which the agents released her.
Helena Puljiz with Stipe Mesic, the president of Croatia
The following day, she reported everything to the Croatian Journalist Society and the Council for Civilian Oversight of Security Services, a civilian comittee that's supposed to prevent misuse of secret agencies for political goals and ensure that all agencies operate within bounds of law. Anyone familiar with Croatian intelligence services knows that such a body is an absolute necessity - since the day Croatia was founded as a sovereign country, these organizations have operated in complete secrecy, without any transparency or civilian control, and since the war they serve mostly as political police for those in power. They illegally survey 'objectionable' journalists and political dissidents, infiltrate public media, political parties and human rights organizations, and on multiple ocassions certain elements from intelligence underground were involved in downright criminal activities, such as drug trade, extortion, assaults, aiding fugitive war criminals etc. In early 2004 Franjo Turek, former chief of POA, was relieved of duty and replaced by Josko Podbevsek, member of Croatian Democratic Union (or HDZ - the party that currently rules Croatia), loyal to the current prime minister Ivo Sanader. As a result, POA became Sanader's private police. The fact that agents who interrogated Puljiz inquired about the time she spent working near president Mesic is indicative - namely, Croatian presidential elections are mere weeks away, and Sanader most likely ordered POA to dig up some dirt on Mesic and enable victory of his party's candidate (who is, by the way, an idiot).
Josko Podbevsek, chief of POA
However, after much procrastrinating, the Council today announced that POA did nothing wrong, and thereby officially declared that in Croatia it is legal to spy and arbitrarily arrest common people. This is no surprise - chairman Vlatko Cvrtila is a personal friend of former chief Turek, and his council exists only to give legitimacy to government oppression and illicit practices of the intelligence services. It is also no surprise that conclusions of the Council have already been confirmed by the parliamentary Committee for Internal Affairs and National Security, since president of said comittee is none other than Ivan Jarnjak of HDZ, former minister of internal affairs (relieved of duty in 1997 when he got on late president Tudjman's bad side) who ordered SZUP (Service for Protection of Constitutional Order - old name of POA) to survey thousands of journalists and human rights activists during the '90s, and practically introduced the modus operandi of Croatian secret services.
This affair won't be swept under the carpet so easily, however. Helena Puljiz and the Croatian Journalist Society have announced their intent to report this incident to the European Federation of Journalists and the European Commission, which could lead to an international scandal and slow down Croatian entry into the European Union - something Sanader and his band of corrupt demagogues (usually referred to as the 'Government of Republic Croatia') will be desperate to avoid.
