An activist of the "Are you Syrious" NGO, Dragan Umicevic, has been fined 60,000 kuna (around €8,000) for helping a group of migrants to illegally cross the border into Croatia in March this year.

Zupanja Misdemeanour Court found Umicevic guilty, pending appeal, of helping 14 Afghan refugees on March 21 to illegally cross the border from Serbia into Croatia near the town of Strosinci.

The court said Umicevic was “sending them light signals of where and when to cross the border into Croatia.”

Are You Syrious NGO started off as a grassroots civil society initiative in the summer of 2015, during the migrant crisis which saw rising numbers of refugees arriving in Europe across the Mediterranean Sea or through Southeast Europe.

The civil initiative was comprised of first responders from Croatia who provided support to the refugees on the so-called Balkan route, which passed from the Turkish border with Greece, through Macedonia, Serbia, into EU countries Croatia and Hungary, and onwards toward western EU countries. Today, Are You Syrious is a registered NGO, counting some 200 volunteers in a number of countries.

The court has allowed Umicevic to pay the fine in five instalments. If he pays at least 40,000 kuna (€5,300) within five months, the fine will be considered as settled in full.

(€1 = 7.41 kuna)

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