Cold Equations
This story has many questions yet to be answered, but one thing is certain. Many self-righteous people in Croatia will undoubtedly shed sea of tears for unfortunate George Alpizar and this flood will be followed by barrage of the same old songs about America as "ultra-violent gun-tooting society" where "human life doesn't worth a dime" and "the reign of terror by evil Bush and his storm troopers who deliberately shoot first and ask questions later".
Another sort of drama unfolded two days ago on the streets of Zagreb. Croatia in past two years saw dramatic rise of crime. In case of Croatian capital this manifested in the continuous stream of armed robberies - 2-3 a day. One of the robberies even included so far unprecedented use of automatic weapons against security personnel, resulting in death of two security guards. This state of affairs was not only annoying for average citizen, but also very embarrassing for Sanader, who had to appoint new interiors minister Ivica Kirin few months ago.
Kirin talked tough, but few weeks ago criminals made mockery out of his words. Following one robbery, Kirin ordered city-wide police blockade of Zagreb. During the blockade two new robberies occurred in matter of hours. Following Kirin promised that he would discourage further robberies by authorising uniformed police to carry automatic rifles while on regular patrols. Kirin's words didn't sit well among liberal sections of Croatian public - many mocked this measure as "pointless and counterproductive show of force".
However, on Tuesday one thing worked in Kirin's favour - statistics. With increasing number of robberies and robbers becoming bolder and bolder, it became more likely that some of them would make a wrong move. On Tuesday afternoon 33-year old Igor Breškić (Igor Breskic) and 39-year old Vladimir Desović (Vladimir Desovic) made such mistake when they robbed 58,000 HRK (cca. 7500 €) from the post office in Botinac, one of Zagreb settlements.
They entered post office just when one of the clerks was talking on the cell phone with a colleague. The colleague immediately alerted police which sent five cars to the scene. The robbers again had stroke of bad luck. Their getaway was hampered by the fact they had chosen railway crossing in Sveta Klara as their escape route. Then they made another, fatal blunder - they tried to shoot their way out, using "Škorpion" (Skorpion) automatic pistol. The result of ensuing fire fight was quite predictable - one of the robbers was killed instantly, another died on his way to hospital.
Kirin quickly used opportunity to tout double killing as major success of Croatian law enforcement. He stated that the "criminals heard the message" and subsequent police bulletins proudly announced that "no robberies were recorded in Zagreb on Wednesday". Police was also quick to release data on dead robbers - each of them had extensive criminal records and long history of violent felonies. In 2000 Breškić was even unsuccessfully tried for the 1993 murder of his own father.
In this case it is very unlikely that anyone in Croatian public would use phrases like "storm trooper tactics", "cold-blooded execution" or "police brutality" - even among those who routinely like to compare Guantanamo with Auschwitz. In most of public reactions you could almost read the sense of relief because the robbers chose to flee instead of surrendering. If Breškić and Desović chose to behave, they would have, judging by the way Croatian judiciary handles such cases, expected to be back on the street within two years. This way they aren't going to be on the streets any more and Croatian public safety is, at least temporarily, going to be slightly improved.
This sentiment is going to be shared even by some who very publicly praise the sanctity of human life and routinely blast USA for its "barbaric" practice of death penalty. Their cause has recently been hampered by the much-publicised 1000th execution. 1000 executions might look like a huge number, but not so when put in the statistical context of 28 years.
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