Some 20 parents of Croatian football fans arrested in Greece over riots in which a Greek national was killed, on Monday rallied outside the Foreign Ministry to demand that their children be protected from what they say is unfair treatment by the Greek judiciary and possible retaliation by rival sport fans.

Ninety-eight supporters of the Dinamo Zagreb football club were arrested last week after a 29-year-old supporter of the Greek AEK football club was killed in fan violence in Athens ahead of the UEFA Champions League third-qualifying-round match between hosts AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb, which was to have been played at AEK’s stadium in the Athens suburb of Nea Filadelfeia.

The Croatian supporters’ parents rallied outside the ministry building in Zagreb after on Sunday they were received for talks by State Secretary Andrea Metelko-Zgombić, who assured them that Croatian diplomats have been involved from the start and have been making sure that the Croatian nationals detained in Athens were safe.

The ministry said in a statement after the talks that Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman has been in touch with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis, and that in a phone conversation with him he “conveyed the concern of the Croatian nationals’ families and underlined the importance of their fair treatment.”

Quoting diplomatic sources, the Greek news agency ANA on Monday reported that during the conversation Grlić Radman expressed condolences over the death of the Greek football fan and condemned the involvement of Croatian nationals in the incident.

Grlić Radman also expressed confidence that the Greek judiciary would conduct an objective investigation and thanked the Greek state and prison authorities for cooperation.

Minister Gerapetritis assured his Croatian counterpart that Greece’s judiciary is autonomous and will investigate the case in a fair and unbiased way, respecting the detainees’ rights, according to ANA.

The 98 Croats are facing 11 criminal and misdemeanor charges in connection with the fan violence, and special emphasis has been placed on the investigation into murder of the AEK supporter, of which three Greeks, an Albanian and a Croat are suspected.

The Croatian fans’ parents and families fear that after their questioning, they will be relocated to 16 different prisons and that they will face retaliation by different sport fan groups there.

They have also written to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, President Zoran Milanović and Ombudsman Tena Šimonović Einwalter, who said that she would recommend that the Croatian Foreign Ministry and Greek institutions check if the rights of the detained Croatians are being respected.

Šimonović Einwalter added that the detainees’ families are indeed in a difficult situation considering the different information on the treatment of the detainees they were receiving.