The paper analyzes the right to freedom through the institution of pretrial detention, with an emphasis on pretrial detention based on the danger of harassment the public. Considering the importance and sensitivity of the right to freedom, any encroachment on that right is allowed only on the basis of fulfilled prescribed conditions. Legitimate deprivation of liberty is prescribed by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, and elaborated in more detail by law. At the international level, the protection of the right to freedom is provided by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, among other things by regulating the permissible pretrial detention grounds. Of the provisions of the Convention article 5 of the Convention with an emphasis on point c is of great importance for the development of custody law. The development of the danger of harassment of the public as a basis for pretrial detention is presented in the paper through three aspects. The first aspect refers to the practice of Croatian courts in the period before the implementation of convention standards. The second aspect includes cases against the Republic of Croatia through which the practice of the European Court of Human Rights was analyzed, while the third aspect refers to the practice of Croatian courts after the implementation of the convention standards. The impact of convention standards on the recent practice of domestic courts is analyzed when it comes to the application of the threat of public harassment as a basis for pretrial detention.