Upon illegal entry from BiH to Croatia, Croatian police found eight foreigners near Cetingrad, including a German journalist (44) who was later tried for illegal entry and smuggling of people, but the court fined him only for illegal entry into Croatia, the Karlovac police department announced today.

The misdemeanor department of the Karlovac Municipal Court sentenced him to a fine of 3.600 kuna for illegal entry, but did not accept the second part of the police indictment accusing him of helping migrants cross the border illegally.

It has been announced that the Cetingrad border police station will appeal the acquittal of the court decision within the legal deadline, announced Index.hr.

The police statement said that the criminal investigation established that the German citizen was assisting other foreigners in crossing illegally, thus violating the Law on Foreigners, the Law on State Border Surveillance and the Schengen Borders Code.

It does not say from which countries the seven illegal migrants with whom the German journalist was found near Cetingrad came, but only that they all said they intended to apply for international protection to Croatia.