(CPJ/IFEX) – On 22 December 1997, criminal proceedings against “Feral Tribune” editor Viktor Ivancic and reporter Marinko Culic will resume. Ivancic and Culic are scheduled to appear at a hearing before the same Zagreb Municipal Court judge that acquitted them on charges of “rudely and falsely slandering the president” on September 26, 1996. The Zagreb […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 22 December 1997, criminal proceedings against “Feral
Tribune” editor Viktor Ivancic and reporter Marinko Culic will resume.
Ivancic and Culic are scheduled to appear at a hearing before the same
Zagreb Municipal Court judge that acquitted them on charges of “rudely and
falsely slandering the president” on September 26, 1996. The Zagreb District
Court of Appeals admitted an appeal from the state attorney in May and
ordered a retrial, alleging the Municipal Court had violated technical
provisions of the Croatian Penal Code. According to CPJ, the retrial of
Ivancic and Culic for seditious libel clearly represents a renewed effort to
silence them, and to intimidate journalists at Feral Tribune and other
independent media outlets in Croatia so that they will cease to question
government policies.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 21 October and 6 May 1997, and 10 October, 26 and
19 September, 14 and 12 June, and 8 May 1996**
On 1 October 1997, the Croatian government announced a new penal code
amendment that would allow the prosecution of journalists for reports
considered insulting even if factually correct. The new amendment, which is
set to take effect on 1 January 1998, would place the burden of proof in
defamation cases on journalists, who would have to prove their intentions
were to inform the public in good faith, and not to malign. This legislation
will have a chilling effect on the work of journalists and stifle freedom of
expression.
As an expression of its concern over the “Feral Tribune” case and the status
of media freedom in Croatia, CPJ is sending Chrystyna Lapychak, program
coordinator for Central Europe, to monitor the trial.
Background Information
On April 29, 1996, the Split-based Feral Tribune published an article titled
“Bones in the Mixer,” along with a photo montage, “Jasenovac – the Largest
Croatian Undergound City.” The satirical piece and photographs remarked on
President Franjo Tudjman’s plans to build a single monument in the former
World War II concentration camp of Jasenovac and bury the bones of Croatian
Fascists alongside those of their Jewish, Serb, Roma and Croat victims. The
state attorney charged the journalists with seditious libel under Articles
71 and 72 of the Croatian Penal Code. It was the first application of
amendments passed by the Croatian parliament in March 1996 that punish
criticism of the country’s top five leaders with up to three years’
imprisonment. Municipal Court Judge Marin Mrcela acquitted Ivancic and
Culic, ruling that the article and photos were intended as political
commentary. The higher appeals court overturned his decision on a
technicality, while ignoring the substance of the case.
There are also between 30 and 40 civil libel cases pending against “Feral
Tribune”, including a lawsuit filed by Nevenka Tudjman, the daughter of the
president, for 1 million German marks (about US $560,000), which would deal
a crushing financial blow to the popular weekly. According to CPJ, these
lawsuits, filed chiefly by public figures such as Ms. Tudjman, are aimed at
pressuring all independent publications, as well as “Feral Tribune”, to
refrain from pursuing journalistic investigations.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the President:
and Culic and asking the court to dismiss the indictments against them
statutes that criminalize criticism and satire of public officials in Croatia
and North American courts have ruled that the prosecution of journalists who
criticize policies or satirize political leaders is an unjustifiable
interference with freedom of expression
violates the guarantees for freedom of expression and the press in the U.N.
Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, to which Croatia has acceded.
Appeals To
His Excellency Franjo Tudjman
President of Croatia
Zagreb, Croatia
Fax: 011-385-1-456-5208
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
