According to journalists at the independent weekly “Feral Tribune”, on 3 May 1996, editor-in-chief Viktor Ivancic was taken to police offices and informed that a criminal case had been opened against him and reporter Marinko Culic. The charges cite the 29 April 1996 edition of the “Feral Tribune” issue that contained Culic’s article entitled “Bones […]
According to journalists at the independent weekly “Feral
Tribune”, on 3 May 1996, editor-in-chief Viktor Ivancic was taken
to police offices and informed that a criminal case had been
opened against him and reporter Marinko Culic. The charges cite
the 29 April 1996 edition of the “Feral Tribune” issue that
contained Culic’s article entitled “Bones in the Mixer” as well
as a photomontage entitled “Jasenovac–The Biggest Croatian
Underground City.” The issue was critical of President Franjo
Tudjman’s recommendation to move the remains of Nazi soldiers and
bury them alongside World War Two concentration camp victims in
Jasenovac. This case is especially troubling because it is the
first brought under legislation recently enacted which mandates
criminal punishment for journalists who criticise the President
of Croatia as well as other leading governmental and judicial
officials (see IFEX alerts dated 2 April and 14 March 1996).
In another case, financial police entered the offices of the
independent weekly “Panorama” on 25 April and ordered the staff
to leave within 15 minutes. Police proceeded to lock all the
rooms and the main entrance of the office. According to a
reporter at “Panorama”, the offices remain locked and the weekly
has already missed one issue since being shut down. The reporter
stated that the official reason given for the action was that
“the publisher has not received official approval from the
government that it has met technical, health, ecological
standards and other preconditions necessary for operating this
publishing business.” The editor-in-chief of “Panorama”, Josip
Jovic, has speculated that the closure was ordered in retaliation
for an article he wrote which was critical of President Tudjman’s
leadership.
Meanwhile, journalists at the independent daily “Novi List” have
reported that the newspaper was recently forced to raise their
price from 3.5 kronar to 4 kronar and to lower the salaries of
“Novi List” staff by 25 per cent in order to compensate for the
US$ 2.5 million fine levied against them by the government. The
newspaper is being fined for using printing equipment from Italy
which the Croatian government claims is reserved for
Italian-language minority newspapers in Croatia. According to
“Novi List” correspondents, agreements signed by members of the
Croatian and Italian governments in 1992 contained no such
restrictions. As well, not only has “Novi List” used the
equipment freely in the past but it has also provided and paid
for space to house the equipment. Furthermore, restricting the
use of the equipment to Italian-language newspapers would cut
operation time to 10 minutes a day. The Croatian government is
ordering “Novi List” to pay a monthly fee for the equipment, as
well as the US$ 2.5 million fine to compensate for past usage.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
charges and shut-downs, is a clear design for suppressing voices
of the independent press in Croatia, and therefore urging that
such measures be stopped immediately
Marinko Culic, to reopen the offices of “Panorama”, and to drop
the fine and charges against “Novi List”
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
Minister of Internal Affairs
Mr Ivan Jarnjak
Ministar
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.
