Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday strongly condemned the murder of a woman that happened in Rijeka four days ago, underscoring that it was a barbaric act and that we should all fight together against violence.

“I most strongly condemn that barbaric act that happened in the middle of the day, in a public place, in front of witnesses and against an older woman,” Plenkovic said at a government session.

He added that the government, and the entire public, expected answers to the questions whether that crime could have been prevented, whether the perpetrator had been violent before.

He said that the perpetrator, a 36-year-old man, had certain issues, but that all of that had to be established by experts.

“Unfortunately, some criminal offences sometimes cannot be predicted, so it is difficult to prevent them. Maybe that was also the case in this situation, but the fact remains that we are appalled by yet another act in which a woman lost her life, and the murder was committed by a man,” said Plenkovic.