The GONG NGO on Tuesday once again requested the removal of barriers from St. Mark's Square in Zagreb, where the government and parliament buildings are located, after the premier said the square would remain closed to the public, and it called out the president for "supporting" the barriers.

The barriers are in St. Mark’s Square because of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s self-will, GONG said in a press release, adding that President Zoran Milanovic is supporting barriers outside institutions and Croatia’s “sliding into a police state” instead of opposing Plenkovic’s decision.

Three years after an armed attack on the government building, in which one policeman was wounded, St. Mark’s Square was reopened to the public on Sunday but only for one day on the occasion of mass in the reconstructed St. Mark’s Church, GONG said.

Plenkovic said the square remained closed until further notice due to alleged danger, which he explained with “extremists” among protesting pig farmers in Slavonia, GONG added.

As for the president, it said that “under the guise of belittling Plenkovic”, he was again supporting the ruling HDZ party’s decisions and undemocratic practices as well as the weakening of democracy.

GONG called on the parliamentary Home Policy and National Security committee, the parliamentary parties and the human rights ombudsman to join in its demand that the government remove the barriers and to ensure the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of movement and assembly.

The NGO noted that in July it asked the Constitutional Court to say if the barriers were in line with the constitution, saying it is still awaiting an answer.

The Interior Ministry and the Security and Intelligence Agency have said that the square was closed to the public to prevent another attack and that the level of danger is confidential, GONG said, adding that the public has the right to know all the facts about that level of danger.