Victims of criminal offences can call a toll free number 116-006 and receive assistance from trained volunteers from the national call centre for crime victims, which has been set up through cooperation between the Croatian Justice Ministry, the Supreme Court and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The line will be opened from 8 am to 8 pm on workdays to victims of criminal offences. They can ask about what to do after the crime was committed and will be also given information where else they can ask for further expert assistance. The service is available in both Croatian and English.
Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said at a ceremony inaugurating the line on Tuesday that the project showed the trend of putting the victim and their rights first.
Miljenic said that during court proceedings so far, victims had been usually additionally traumatised but that the system had not had mechanisms to help them.
The partnership, developed in cooperation between the Witness and Victims Support Association and the ministry, is a model according to which the nongovernmental sector can offer assistance, Miljenic added.
UNDP Resident Representative in Croatia Louisa Vinton recalled that the 116-006 number was a standardised helpline number throughout the European Union, but, she explained, this did not mean that all member-states used it.
Croatia is the sixth EU member to start using this helpline, following Austria, Denmark, Germany. Ireland and the Netherlands, Vinton added.
The project in Croatia was welcomed by Dutch Ambassador Stella Ronner-Grubacic.
