2. SURVEILLANCE
The question of surveillance in the Gornji grad area carries more symbolic meaning than the surveillance of any other public space. It is an area of the real state power and the place which represents the symbol of rule. The strict surveillance of that public space, using video cameras, policemen, and communal assistants, implicitly lets the public know that its political role is under constant control, susceptible to corrections, and in some cases made impossible in its root.
<a name=”map”>serious</a>MAP OF SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS ON GORNJI GRAD, 2010
LAW ON PUBLIC GATHERING
The Upper Town’s main square is St. Mark’s Square, contemporary Croatia’s political center, containing the buildings of Croatian Parliament, Croatian Government and City Council. In August 2005, when the amendment to the Law on Public Gathering was put into effect, public gatherings were prohibited within a 100 meter radius from the buildings of Croatian Parliament, Government, Constitutional Court, and the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia. This law, undemocratic in its essence, provoked different reactions, such as the Matija Gubec initiative, which wants to see it repealed. The state authorities, which introduced the law, broke it two times: the first time it was during the organized welcoming of George Bush, the second the inauguration of President Ivo Josipović. The ban on public gathering is not a new thing – it was imposed in early 20th century as well, and the first person to break it was writer and activist Marija Jurić Zagorka.
excerpts from web – reaearch:
Monday, August 1, 2005
PROHIBITION OF PUBLIC GATHERING ON ST. MARK’S SQUARE EFFECTIVE TOMORROW
ZAGREB – public gatherings on St. Mark’s Square will be disallowed come tomorrow. The Amendment to the Law on Public Gathering takes effect then and will ban gatherings withing the radius of 100 meters from the buildings of Croatian Parliament, Government, Constitutional Court, and the Office of the President.
St. Mark’s Square, until now the usual destination of union and other protests, will no more be the place where malcontents try to obtain solutions to their problems directly from the representatives of the Government and the Parliament.
Under public gathering, the Law categorizes every organized peaceful gathering and public protest of more than 20 people, and public events and other forms of gathering whose purpose is the realization of economic, religious, cultural, humanitarian, sports, entertainment and other interests.
source: http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/od-sutra-na-snazi-zabrana-javnih-okupljanja-na-markovu-trgu/276971.aspx
“MATIJA GUBEC” CIVIC INITIATIVE
In view of the Constitutional Court’s decision to repeal the Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Gathering on the grounds of formal unconstitutionality, i.e. the shortage of representative votes, the “Matija Gubec Civic Initiative – resistance to the space of political discretion”, issued a press release on Thursday, November 24. The press release expresses satisfaction with the decision, but simultaneously dissatisfaction with the fact the repeal was decided upon solely on the grounds of formal unconstitutionality, and not on the grounds of content, as it was demanded by the Matija Gubec Civic Inititative and Independent Croatian Unions in their request to assess constitutionality of the amendment. The prohibition of gathering on St. Mark’s Square is unconstitutional in that it restricts the right to gather publicly in a way that is not proportional to the danger to national security and public order.
source: http://oneworldsee.org/js/node/10912
http://www.h-alter.org/vijesti/vijesti/matija-gubec-o-novoj-zabrani-okupljanja
THE DETAILS OF THE AMENDMENT AND ITS PASSING:
On November 23, 2005 the Constitutional Court of Republic of Croatia reached a decision to repeal the Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Gathering, because it was not passed with the required majority of Croatian representatives’ votes. However, as it was noted in the text of the decision, the Constitutional Court has not taken a stance on whether the Law is unconstitutional in its content but has merely affirmed the procedure of its passing was unconstitutional. Consequently, the Croatian Parliament, on December 9th 2005, passed the new Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Gathering, in keeping with the constitutional procedural directives, but leaving the law unchanged in its content.
Notwithstanding the purpose and the manner of a public gathering, as well as the number of people gathered, anybody who approaches the buildings of Croatian Parliament, Government, Constitutional Court, or the President of Republic of Croatia within the radius of 100 meters with the intent to express their opinion or make a demand, can be fined for a minor offense with a sum ranging from 5000 to 20 000 kunas.
source: http://www.zamirzine.net/spip.php?article5496
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<a name=”law”>serious</a>THE LAW:
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CROATIAN PARLIAMENT
Acting pursuant to Article 89 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia I hereby issue
THE DECISION ON THE ENACTMENT OF THE LAW ON PUBLIC GATHERING
I enact the Law on Public Gathering, which was adopted by the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament at its session of November 12, 1999.
Article 11
By way of derogation from Article 10 of this Law, a peaceful gathering and public protest cannot take place:
in the vicinity of hospitals, so that it obstructs the access of emergency vehicles and disturbs the peace of patients,
in the vicinity of kindergartens and elementary schools while there are children inside,
in national parks and protected nature parks, except with the purpose of promoting natural conservation and protection of environment,
in the vicinity of zero-category cultural monuments, if it is dangerous to the protected valuables,
on freeways and main roads in a way that threatens the traffic security,
in other places, if the time, number of participants, or the nature of the gathering could seriously disturb the movement and work of a larger number of citizens
THE LAW ON AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW ON PUBLIC GATHERING
Article 1
Article 11, subparagraph 4 of the Law on Public Gathering (Official Gazette, no. 128/99) is expunged.
Former subparagraphs 5 and 6 become subparagraphs 4 and 5.
In the new subparagraph 5 a fullstop is replaced by a comma, and below the new subparagraph 5, subparagraph 6 is added as follows:
“- at least a 100 meters from the facilities where Croatian Parliament, President of the Republic of Croatia, Government of Repulic of Croatia and Constitutional Court are housed or in session.”
Below Article 1, Article 2 is added as follows:
“In the case described in Article 1 subparagraph 6, the provision of Article 4 paragraph 1 of this Law will not be applied, in the part specifying the number of participants of a gathering.”
Article 2
In Article 22 below section 5, a new section 6 is added as follows:
“6. there is a real and direct danger to the health of participants or other persons.”
***
The then-prime minister of Croatia, Ivo Sanader, on the passing of amendment to the law on public gathering:
GATHERING ON ST. MARK’S SQUARE PROHIBITED FOR SECURITY REASONS
June 7 – Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said the decision to add the Government and Parliament buildings to the list of facilities under protection, which also prohibited public gathering on St. Mark’s Square, was made solely for security reasons.
Sanader explained how the Law on Public Gathering already exists, together with the Act on Protected Facilities, and that after an evaluation by the security services a decision was made to include the Government and Parliament buildings into it.
“That is the only reason why public gathering was prohibited”, Sanader said to the press in front of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Zagreb headquarters. “I support the freedom of gathering, but also security. We must not allow one at the expense of the other”, said Sanader and added how the harmony between them is important.
source: http://www.hrt.hr/arhiv/2005/06/07/HRT0018.html
However, it was proven how there are always exceptions to the law – in 2008 on St. Mark’s square a civic gathering was organized to welcome the american president george bush, and in 2010 the inauguration of the third croatian president Ivo Josipović was held there:
“Peaceful gatherings and public protests can be held in every suitable space”, states Article 10 of the Law on Public Gathering. But not all spaces are suitable for public gatherings, no matter how peaceful they are. One such place, as it was decided by the Croatian power-holders, is St. Mark’s Square where the inauguration of Ivo Josipović is being held on Thursday.
Which basically means that the first move by the new president – who won the election by promoting the program of New Justness and determined fight against crime in all its forms – will be illegal!
He can be fined up to 50000 kunas for the deed. This is the lawful fine for the organizer of a public event despite the prohibition.
Police: Everything not prohibited is allowed
What’s especially interesting is the way this exception from the rule is interpreted by the Office of the Chief of Police, which issued a statement today saying that the whole public gathering would be recorded by cameras. The head of the Office of the Chief of Police Krunoslav Borovec said the inauguration was categorized as a political event which, as it were, are allowed to take place on St. Mark’s square after all. We have seen the same was the case when former American president George Bush visited Zagreb and Ivo Sanader decided to break the law his own Government passed in his honor.
When we asked whether there is a special paragraph in the law which regulates the category of gatherings allowed to take place on St. Mark’s square, Borovec answered there wasn’t. “The law prescribes what is prohibited, not what is allowed. It’s as if there were a law proscribing punishable deeds, and on the other hand a law proscribing the deeds that you are allowed to do. Everything not specified as prohibited is allowed”, Borovec replied stoically. However, a mere glance at the Law on Public Gathering shows his interpretation does not hold water.
The Law regulates only what is prohibited? Yeah, right…
The Law contains, among other things, the Article 13, which states: “In Zagreb, the capital of the Republic of Croatia, everyone can hold peaceful gatherings and public protests without prior reporting on The Square of the French Republic.” This example clearly shows that law regulates both what is allowed and what is not allowed. And since the Law on Public Gathering does not state that gatherings on St. Mark’s Square are allowed in exceptional situations such as this one, the only possible conclusion is that we will witness a breaking of the law on Thursday 12:00 PM. Except if the number of guests is limited to a maximum of 20.(http://protest.ba/v2/josipoviceva-inauguracija-je-krsenje-zakona/)
SOURCE: http://kin.kvarnerinfo.net/razno/4709-predsjednik-smije-a-graani-ne-smiju-josipovieva-inauguracija-je-krenje-zakona.html
April 1, 2008
THE GOVERNMENT IS BREAKING THE LAW BECAUSE OF BUSH
BUSH ALLOWED TO SPEAK ON ST. MARK’S SQUARE, CITIZENS AREN’T
“I think this manifestation is an important event for Croatia. If the Government organized it to welcome George Bush, then it is an exception” – those are the words Bianca Matković, the state secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations and, as many describe her, “the whip of god” among ministers, used to justify the gathering on St. Mark’s Square.
Exception? What right does the Government of The Republic of Croatia have to break the law? Out of national interest? If Bush’s address is a national interest, then we have to ask ourselves why there are laws in the first place.
“We can see now that the prohibition of gatherings on St. Mark’s square was pointless. Although it is a minor detail, this is a very serious matter, justified by higher purpose because the Government is directly breaking the law. It is too late to correct things at the moment, the only way out is to start a procedure to change the law”, Professor Josip Kregar, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, told us.
SOURCE: http://www.javno.com/hr-hrvatska/bush-na-markovu-trgu-moze-govoriti-gradjani-ne/136636
***
THE LEADER OF 1903 FEMINIST DEMONSTRATIONS ON ST. MARK’S SQUARE
At the beginning of people’s resistance in 1903, St. Mark’s square was guarded by the police and off limits for any kind of citizens’ public gathering. To show Hedervary right in front of Ban’s (Viceroy’s) Palace how unwanted he was in Croatia, Zagorka devised a cunning plan. She published in Obzor that a memorial service would be held for the Zaprešić victims (killed in the shooting ensuing from an attempt to take down the Hungarian state flag from the railway station) in St. Mark’s Church. The invitation went to women, calling them “to gather at the mass in great numbers”. Zagorka procured Croatian tricolors with black veils and, in agreement with members of Kolo, pinned the tricolors on the chest of women who were leaving the church after mass. The women activists closed the church’s southern entrance so the women had to exit right in front of Ban’s Palace.
The police were completely baffled by the scene. Hedervary, appearing at the window, was shocked to see around a hundred women jostling in front of the church and heckling: “Abzug Khuen Hedervary!” (Resign, Khuen Hedervary!), and then cheekily – right under his nose – singing the Croatian anthem.
For such an unprecedented scene of female civil (and political) protest, the police were not ready to take action. Standing at attention, the Chief of Police listened to the anthem, and then asked the women to disperse peacefully. Zagorka had a prepared answer: they are all from the Lower Town so they will go down together through Mesnička Street and then disperse. And really, the women formed a procession holding each other under the arm four by four, and then left St. Mark’s Square.
The news travelled through Zagreb like lightning. As soon as they reached Ilica, the procession was greeted by a mass of fellow citizens, both men and women. And instead dispersing, the procession grew bigger and advanced to Jelačić Square. The police were alarmed. The army was called in, and it stopped and contained the procession at the square. They asked for the names of organizers, the ones who arranged the mass, the leaders, but the women unanimously answered: “It was all of us together!”
Already the following day the women’s demonstrations in Zagreb were serious news in Europe. The sensation was accompanied by a newspaper cartoon – Zagorka as Joan of Arc with a knight’s sword in hand – chasing the terrified Hedervary out of Croatia.
Taken from: Slavica Jakobović-Fribec, Vodič Zagorkinim tragom kroz Zagreb (The Guide to Following Zagorka’s Footsteps through Zagreb)
***
Numerous tunnels and underground passages located in the underground of Gornji grad witness to the great strategic importance of the Gornji grad area. Their history is possible to trace since the 18th century. Although there are several proposals to remodel those spaces, so that they could be opened and used by the public, they are all still closed and inaccessible. The information about their current state, content and purpose of the tunnels is difficult or impossible to access, their entries are sealed and under video surveillance.
excerpts from web – reaearch:
There are two secret fallout shelters in Zagreb, heritage of former Yugoslavia: one is located on Pantovčak, under Tito’s former villa, and the other was dug between Visoka Street on Gornji grad and Tkalčićeva Street, under Tuškanac, ending in Dubravkin put (Dubravka’s Way). Unlike similar cold-war “monuments” in most post-communist countries, the “secret cities” in Zagreb are still in use, as a carefully kept military secret.
MILITARY SECRET
According to witnesses, the shelter on Pantovčak is maintained as a backup residence of the Croatian president, for cases of extreme risk, such as putsch, coup d’etat, or civil war. In the present time of peace, the upper levels of the shelter under Gornji grad, which has an entrance in Tkalčićeva Street, house the State Information Center, from which warnings of catastrophic floods, earthquakes, fires, oil spills, are sent. In case of a new war, however, the entire Croatian Government could take refuge there.
Some say tunnels connect Pantovčak with Sljeme, as a precaution from “God forbid”, and it is no secret that the Remete church is connected with Kaptol and Medvedgrad, about which M. J. Zagorka wrote on several occasions. Parts of the tunnels caved in after the 1880 earthquake, along with the gold which vergers and goldsmiths stored under ground.
The two “secret cities” were built in mid-1970s, when Yugoslavia, wedged between the capitalist West and the Stalinist East, was permanently threatened by an external enemy, as was believed. The catacombs stemming from the Theresian 18th century were adapted into the Gornji grad underground.
THE UNDERGROUND FORTRESS – GRIČ TUNNEL
Secret shelter, built in the cold-war period, from Tkalčićeva Street to Tuškanac.
The entrance to the shelter was in Tkalčićeva Street. It was expanded in Austro-Hungarian times, and also renovated in World War II, on Ante Pavelić’s request. The command to convert it into a cold-war underground fortress came from the Party leader Vladimir Bakarić, and it became a responsibility of the People’s Defence Secretariat. The people in charge of its maintenance had to go under a so-called security check, which took two years.
This is the entrance to a garage near the Tuškanac garage. It’s obvious that the garage continues into the hill (possible 3rd exits from Banski dvori)
The Mesnička-Radićeva tunnel is no enigma. Thousands of people went inside it in the 1990s, and I was one of them. That was in 1991 and 1992, during air-raids, when the tunnel served as a shelter. I was on the main square a couple of times when air-raids started, and we were all urged into the tunnel. For some time the tunnel was open all day long without guards, so we could walk through it on our way to school. When air-raids got less frequent, the tunnel was open only when necessary, and after the war several parties, presentations and exhibitions were held there. The tunnel consists of a main tunnel, and four smaller tunnels which lead southwards, ending in Ilica. All the exits were open during the war.
As for official data, the tunnel was built in 1943, with the purpose of sheltering citizens during the ever more frequent Allied bombings. It lies further north from the Ilica faulting, the medieval ramparts, and the terrain slope towards Ilica. It heads east to west, from Mesnička Street to Radićeva Street. Its official name is Grič Tunnel, and it is not connected to the other old tunnels in Zagreb.
Unfortunately for all explorers and fans of the mysteries of Zagreb and Croatia, this is a common World War II shelter, although impressive and large, through which thousands of people passed. It has electric lighting and conceals no secrets. It’s been five or six years since discussions about its renovation and commercialization started, and the mayor’s newest suggestion is a tourist attraction – the Museum of Senses, and elevators to Gornji grad in the middle of the tunnel. The Tuškanac garage would in this way be connected to Gornji grad (the elevators would be especially useful to Parliament members). This would cost more than the garage, so it is unlikely to happen. Also, digging on Gornji grad is unrewarding – as soon as you push the shovel into the ground, you find a new archaeological discovery and construction stops. For Bandić, that means too much effort.
The Berlin wall fell in 1989. Most communist countries, including Serbia, opened their “secret cities”.
The fact that the two largest shelters in Zagreb maintained their original purpose and their status as military secret could be interpreted in two ways. Possibly, the memory of their importance in the Croatian War of Independence gets preserved in this way. On October 7, 1991, when the Yugoslav People’s Army’s Air Force bombed Banski dvori, former President Franjo Tuđman, former Prime Minister Stipe Mesić, and the last Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Marković, took shelter there.
However, the reason for saving the two cold-war relics could be something else: the sense of an uncertain future of a country still balancing on the verge of the European Union.
Source: Vecernji-List.hr
The first Croatian rave party, Under City Rave, took place in Grič Tunnel in 1993. Croatia was at war then, so the party was a reason for the foreign media to talk about the situation in the country from an aspect that was not political – the point of view of young people who were trying to lead a normal life. The organizers say: “There were many problems. Nobody wanted to come here because of the war. The ravers were the only ones who didn’t mind, so we organized the first real rave party in Croatia, Under City Rave, in Mesnička Street in 1993. It was our first party, we didn’t know much about how to organize it, so we made a mistake at the very beginning – instead of printing tickets, we Xeroxed them. Still, the party was a great success,” says Irena Ščurić. ”We couldn’t believe it! Mesnička Street was crowded, you couldn’t walk through it, and people stood in front of the tunnel, waiting to go in. However, because of the situation in the country, and also the huge crowd around the tunnel, before midnight we heard that the police was about to stop the party. I immediately went to the police station in Zrinjevac Park and found the chief there, I can’t remember his name. I literally knelt before the man, clasped my hands and said: ‘Please, these are the first foreigners to come here since the war began. Please, don’t drive them away now.’ And he really didn’t stop it.”
Here’s what it looked like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozu6jF9M8U&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRKGF7AFeto&
Besides that, in 1991 the Montažstroj theatre group and HC Boxer made a video for the song Croatia in Flame. Media say that was the only Croatian patriotic song aired on MTV. A part of the video was recorded in Grič Tunnel.
In Grič Tunnel the construction of the Museum of Senses was planned as well. However, nothing so far brought the plans closer to implementation. “One of the most interesting new projects is the Museum of Senses in the currently neglected tunnel under Grič. The project was presented four years ago, but, although cheaper than most, it still has not taken hold. Based on the plans by the architect Nela Cilinger, the museum will be constructed as a multimedia Museum of Senses where films and exhibitions will be shown. “It will be the first Museum of Senses in the world. Apart from watching, certain things would be listened to, smelled, or touched, and they will be made of stone, sand, wood, and gravel,” said Cilinger in Vjesnik. In the first phase of the project the tunnel would be renovated, and the museum constructed, and in the second, gardens and parks would be built on the southern slope of Grič, while the last phase would include an exit to the Vraniczany field and the construction of the museum’s great hall. (http://metro-portal.hr/vijesti/zagreb/muzej-osjeta-povezivat-ce-gornji-i-donji-grad)