Croatian police used WhatsApp group to share sensitive information on migrants: Report

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Croatian police and officials used a WhatsApp group to share sensitive information about migrants attempting to enter the country, an independent news outlet reported Thursday

Lighthouse Reports said they received 60 leaked screenshots and managed to identify 33 participants of an encrypted chat group used between August 2019 and February 2020.

''Croatia has always denied any knowledge of violent and illegal operations by its own police forcing people seeking asylum back out of the EU. Now we can reveal that top Croatian officials were part of a secret WhatsApp group where such activities were shared and encouraged,'' said Lighthouse.

The news outlet said the group was used to exchange information about the apprehension in western Croatia of more than 1,300 people of mostly Afghan, Pakistani and Syrian nationality.

The report claims that the WhatsApp group, called Corridor II-West, was used by the police to locate and capture irregular migrants. It often included photos of individuals with their faces clearly visible.

''In some cases, disturbing photos of the individuals were shared, sometimes of people forced to lie face down on the ground or having apparently been forced to remove their shoes as armed Croatian officers stand above them,'' said the report.

The group was also used to exchange information about journalists visiting the border area.

Croatian officials neither confirm nor deny the existence of the WhatsApp group.

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said they are not acknowledging the existence of a police operation named Corridor

''We cannot know if these messages are authentic. Corridor II-West is not a secret operation. It is an action carried out against migrant smugglers and intensively in the past five years,'' said Bozinovic.

He denied the allegations of police mistreatment of migrants.

The ministry said in a statement that the group established on WhatsApp does not constitute an illegal situation.

EU member Croatia joined the visa-free Schengen Area this year and has repeatedly faced accusations of migrant pushbacks at its borders.