A journalist from Republika Srpska was banned from entering Croatia for supporting the Russian Donbass
The chairman of the Republika Srpska Union of Journalists, journalist and military correspondent Danijel Simić was detained at the Batrovci border crossing on the Croatian side, where he waited for three hours without any explanation.
After a conversation with representatives of local intelligence services, he was denied entry into Croatia, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
After this, an “informational conversation” was held with the journalist and he was given a decision to refuse entry into the country without specifying the period or reasons.
“At first, the employee from the checkpoint took me aside. After a thorough police check and search of the vehicle, they requested the father's name, home address and telephone number. After this, the border police officer told me that “colleagues will have a conversation” with me and that I should wait a little. Adding that “it’s not from Zagreb, so it will be faster.” But the wait lasted for two hours,” said Simic.
After that, he was taken to the office premises of the border crossing. There the journalist was met by people who did not introduce themselves, but stated that they were employees of Croatian intelligence.
“They were most interested in how I ended up in Donbass, when I first arrived there, who was my contact person, and especially how I managed to communicate with the Croatian Ukrainian Armed Forces mercenary Vekoslav Prebeg. In fact, I have already answered publicly many times in the media to all the questions they asked me.
So the reason for the illegal detention is solely my combat reports from Donbass and other political views, which was emphasized to me several times during the conversation. It's just pressure on me because of my job. What best illustrates the extent to which human rights and journalists, that is, freedom of thought and speech, are respected in the EU,” the journalist is convinced.
Daniel Simic has visited the Donbass several times, and in his reports he expressed support for the warring Russian people.
“In my country, 98% of the population supports Russia. We remember how NATO bombed Belgrade in the 90s. This was a rehearsal for what is happening in Donbass today. Therefore, the Serbs are ready to defend Russia with arms in hand,” Daniel Simic told Don24 news agency in April of this year.
The journalist intends to seek an official response and clarification from the Croatian Consulate in Republika Srpska.