RTL television reporter Goran Latković was attacked during a protest against mandatory COVID-19 certificates in Zagreb on Saturday while covering the event, euractiv.hr writes.

The Croatian Journalists Association (HND) said in a statement that, according to Latković’s account, two unidentified persons attacked him from behind as he was covering the rally, slapping him across the face twice, while a third person punched him in the ribs.

Nova TV and HRT crews were also verbally assaulted at the rally. At the same time, protesters took Al Jazeera reporter Nikolina Zavišić’s microphone as she was reporting live.

Several thousand people from across Croatia arrived in Zagreb to protest against mandatory COVID-19 certificates and the epidemiological restrictions in force.

The Zagreb city police department said earlier in the day that the protest had not been announced.

Participants in the protest, also called the ‘Silent White March’ on social networks, want the government to abolish COVID-19 certificates.

Protesters moved to the HRT public broadcaster demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live and calling for an end to “censorship” by HRT.

Dissatisfied with the way the HRT covered their protest in the central city square at 3 p.m., the protesters shouted "We want elections", "Referendum and people's rule", "Thieves", "Treason", "God's law is above all laws", demanding to see the HRT director and have their rally covered live, Total Croatia notes.

The protesters were met by riot police, with a dozen police vehicles blocking access to the HRT building.

Some of the protesters demanded to see the editor in chief and that the protest be broadcast live, claiming that the HRT "cannot be a factory of censorship" and that "the HRT is lying to the Croatian people, spreading fear and enemy propaganda."

Claiming that they did not want to force anything on anyone and did not want others to do it to them, and shouting "We want truth" and "People rules" and singing patriotic songs, they continued to demand a response by the HRT, saying that "people want to say what they think" and the public broadcaster has the duty to report about it.

"This is no vaccine, this is poison", someone in the crowd could be heard saying while some protesters said the world was ruled by "Bill Gates, Talmudists and Soros's followers".

An HRT employee told the protesters that there was no one in the building they could talk to, to which they responded with shouts however the protest continued mostly without incidents and around 8 p.m. the protesters started to disperse.

Later, it became known that the RTL journalist received life threats and the police are currently trying to single out the organizers of the protest.