(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned newly adopted amendments to the criminal code and proposed changes to the press law, saying they would hamper access to official information, limit the ability to criticise public figures and make it easier to prosecute journalists, thereby encouraging self-censorship. “This step backward for press freedom is very regrettable, especially as […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned newly adopted amendments to the criminal code and proposed changes to the press law, saying they would hamper access to official information, limit the ability to criticise public figures and make it easier to prosecute journalists, thereby encouraging self-censorship.
“This step backward for press freedom is very regrettable, especially as the president of the European Commission has just described Croatia as an example to follow for Balkan countries seeking to join the European Union,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said.
Ménard urged Prime Minister Racan Ivica and Culture Minister Antun Vujic to do everything possible to ensure that the criminal code amendments are repealed and that any press law reforms do not obstruct the work of journalists.
If the press law amendments are passed in their present form, the authorities will be able to refuse to provide information to the press without giving any explanation; the time limit for bringing a libel suit will be extended from six months to five years; a newspaper’s editor-in-chief will be held responsible for libel damages rather than the publisher; and it will be forbidden to publish “official secrets” and “business secrets”.
In the first of the two amendments to the criminal code approved on 9 July 2003, parliament repealed Article 203, which protected journalists from prosecution for libel if they acted in good faith and without intent to defame. Under the second amendment, to Article 309, any insult or criticism hampering the work of a judge or prosecutor is now punishable by three years in prison. Furthermore, any journalist expressing an opinion on an ongoing trial can be sentenced to one year in prison.
