On 28 March 1996, the independent daily “Novi List” was ordered to pay backdated taxes of 12.5 million francs (US$ 2.5 million), even though the newspaper had previously been exempt from it. The order came following an investigation by financial police which began on 23 January, several weeks after the publication of an article which […]
On 28 March 1996, the independent daily “Novi List” was ordered
to pay backdated taxes of 12.5 million francs (US$ 2.5 million),
even though the newspaper had previously been exempt from it. The
order came following an investigation by financial police which
began on 23 January, several weeks after the publication of an
article which reported that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman had
refused to accept the nomination of an opposition mayor in
Zagreb. Following the article’s publication, Croatian national
television declared that “`Novi List’ had overstepped its
bounds,” adding that it would be necessary to put an end to the
situation. If “Novi List” is forced to pay the taxes, the daily
will almost certainly be forced to cease publication.
Meanwhile, on 22 April, Ivo Pukanic, the editor-in-chief of the
sensationalist weekly “Nacional”, was charged by the Prosecutor
for Zagreb “with having published misleading information that
damaged the image of Croatia.” Pukanic was charged under
amendments to the Penal Code adopted on 29 March by the Croatian
Parliament, which made punishable slanderous and injurious
offences made by journalists against high-ranking government
officials as well as the revelation by media outlets of civil or
military state secrets (see IFEX alerts dated 2 April and 14
March 1996). The charges relate specifically to a headline from
the 12 April edition of “Nacional” which read: “The appalling
condition of Dubrovnik’s airport is to blame for the crash of the
American Boeing 737.” This was reportedly regarded as
interference in the debate among Croatian authorities over the
compatibility of the airport’s facilities with the flight
instruments of the Boeing 737 (which was carrying United States
Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown), and could result in Pukanic
facing anywhere from six months to three years in prison.
As well, the charges brought against Pukanic followed comments
made on 21 April by President Tudjman, who claimed in front of
government journalists that Croatia “was never sufficiently
resolute in regard to the prevention [of internal threats]. We
now have certain slanderous publications and revelations of state
secrets, as was recently demonstrated regarding the accident
involving Ron Brown’s plane.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
reached with the newspaper
and opposition media in Croatia
Appeals To
His Excellency Franjo Tudjman
President of the Republic of Croatia
Zagreb, Croatia
Fax: +385 1 443 075/444 532
Mr Ivica Mudrinic
Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communication
Prisavlje 14
10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Fax: +385 1 611 0691
Mr Ivan Jarnjak
Minister of Internal Affairs
Ministarstvo za unutraSnje poslove Republike Hrvatske
Savska cesta 39
10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Fax: +385 1 443 715
Vlatko Pavletic
President of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia
Fax: +385 1 443 124
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
