Attacks on the Press in 2006 - Snapshots: Croatia
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | February 2007 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Attacks on the Press in 2006 - Snapshots: Croatia, February 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/47c5675fc.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
In early 2006, the Croatian parliament enacted penal code changes to decriminalize libel and direct such complaints to civil courts, according to Dragutin Lucic Luce, president of the Croatian Journalists Association. The European Union had encouraged Balkan governments to amend laws that restrict press freedom.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague decided not to prosecute Marijan Krizic, editor-in-chief of the Zagreb-based weekly Hrvatsko Slovo; Stjepan Seselj, the paper's publisher; and Domagoj Margetic, a former editor with the newsweekly. The journalists had been charged in August 2005 with defying the tribunal's gag orders by publishing the identity of a protected witness. Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte withdrew the indictments in mid-June, saying her office was limiting the scope of its prosecutions, Agence France-Presse reported. The court convicted Josip Jovic, former editor-in-chief of the Split daily Slobodna Dalmacija, on a charge of publishing the name and testimony of a protected witness and fined him 20,000 euros (US$26,650) on August 30.
Ladislav Tomicic, a correspondent for the national daily Novi List, received an anonymous letter threatening to kill him and his family. The letter came in July, shortly after he wrote articles about the involvement of former intelligence agents in organized crime, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Tomicic reported the threat to police, who are investigating.
