The national association of journalists HND sent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic a petition demanding the resignation of Health Minister, Vili Beros, over the Covid-related death of journalist Vladimir Matijanic, as well as an independent investigation into the case, state news agency Hina said on Monday, carrying a press release HND sent to the media.

Matijanic, who worked for the Index.hr news website, died on 5 August from complications caused by the coronavirus. A native of Split, his death attracted scrutiny over the way his case was handled by the local emergency services and the KBC Split hospital.

The health ministry’s internal investigation reported on 24 August that his death was the result of “unpredictable and fast-developing inflammation of the heart muscle and pulmonary changes” caused by the underlying Covid-19 infection, effectively denying any human error.

HND then launched the petition three weeks later, on 15 September, saying that “the public and medical professionals” had disagreed with the the results of the investigation. In the meantime, HND’s petition was signed by 4,695 people.

Head of HND, Hrvoje Zovko, said that Beros had behaved “utterly unprofessionally from day one, trying to cover up the case.”