Croatia: Facebook, one of the largest social networking sites with over 120 million active members worldwide, has been to another controversy as the man who launched a group account criticizing Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was detained on Friday by police, according to a local report.
Few months ago, Niksa Klecak, 22, had set up a group account named “I bet I can find 5,000 people who dislike Sander” which criticizes the leader. To this day, the group account has over 80 thousand members and still growing.
In an interview, political analyst Jelena Lovric expressed her dismay over the incident saying that this is a “notorious abuse of power administered by the police.” Lovric also said that government “cannot directly influence the Internet media, doing so may be a frightening occurrence since it should be free.”
Social Democrats opposition leader Zoran Milanovic said that with Klecak’s detention, freedom of expression has been clearly violated.
While the media entity in the country is relatively free, political pressure is always present, making it hard for news organizations to disseminate controversial information tackling issues which may offend political bigwigs.
After Klecak’s detention, anti-Sanader sentiment is on the rise on the Internet as web-centric people exchange opinions over the alleged harassment perpetrated by the police.
Despite criticism, National Police senior officer Krunoslav Borovec defended their actions saying that the group account displayed a picture of the prime minister wearing a Nazi uniform, a move to malign the reputation of the leader.
In Croatian law, symbols relating to Nazi are prohibited and anyone who violated this will be penalized in accordance to the law.
Sanader declined to provide comments regarding the incident.
Related posts: