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From notes@igc.org Wed Sep 25 16:58:53 1996
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Date: 25 Sep 1996 09:37:36
Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat"
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Subject: http://mediafilter.org/SJ/Pages/loesche
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hi
From notes@igc.org Wed Sep 25 17:01:17 1996
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Date: 25 Sep 1996 11:24:55
Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat"
From: careerc@mpls.k12.mn.us
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Cao Majo i kako si?
From notes@igc.org Wed Sep 25 17:04:29 1996
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Date: 25 Sep 1996 12:09:39
Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat"
From: Ivo Skoric
Subject: (Fwd) Press Release, Croatia: Feral Tribune Trial to Resume
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From: "Ivo Skoric"
Subject: (Fwd) Press Release, Croatia: Feral Tribune Trial to Resume
PRESS RELEASE
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
330 Seventh Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USA =F9 Phone:
(212) 465-1004 =F9 Fax: (212) 465-9568 =F9 E-Mail: info@cpj.org
U.S. Journalists Urge Croatian President to Drop Charges
Against Feral Tribune Journalists
For Immediate Release Contact:Catherine Fitzpatrick or Amanda On=
ion
Sept. 24, 1996 Phone: (212)465-9344, x101
E-mail:europe@cpj.org
New York, Sept. 24--The Committee to Protect Journalists today
urged Croatian President Franjo Tudjman today to ensure that
charges against two independent journalists be dropped and that
the legislation used to try them be abolished from the Croatian
Criminal Code. The journalists are accused of defaming President
Franjo Tudjman.
"Such laws have no place in any country, and are especially to be
condemned in a self-proclaimed democracy such as Croatia," notes
CPJ in a legal brief presented to the court. "No journalist in any
Western democracy is in prison as a result of a conviction of
seditious libel."
Adjourned June 14, the criminal trial against the Feral Tribune
journalists will reopen tomorrow -- Sept. 25. The defendants face
up to three years in jail if convicted.
The charges against Viktor Ivancic, the editor in chief of the
satiric newspaper Feral Tribune, and Marinko Culic, a reporter
with the weekly, stem from an April 29 article criticizing
Tudjman's proposal to rebury the remains of World War II Fascists
alongside their victims. This is the first application of a law
passed by the Croatian Parliament on March 29 which effectively
criminalizes any critical reporting or satirical commentary on the
president, the prime minister, the parliament speaker or the chief
magistrates of the supreme and constitutional courts.
The CPJ brief condemned the prosecution as an example of seditious
libel, a legal concept that the Committee characterized as
"fundamentally antithetical to the values of a democratic
society." Croatia's new statutes constitute seditious libel
because they shield only high government officials from criticism.
The Croatian Constitutional Court rejected an appeal by the
newspaper's attorneys on June 10.
In recent months CPJ has followed with alarm the increasing
constraints on press freedom in Croatia. On Sept. 3, the ruling
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) brought charges against four
editors and reporters from Nacional, an independent weekly, and
Novi List, the largest independent newspaper in Croatia. Still
pending, the libel charges were launched under the same criminal
code articles applied in the Feral Tribune case.
.../...
The Media in Croatia
A Chronology of Attacks Documented and Protested by CPJ
March 22, 1995: Responding to an appeal on behalf of the
independent weekly newspaper Feral Tribune, the Croatian
Constitutional Court finally withdraws a 50 percent sales tax on
the paper. The tax, usually levied only on pornographic
publications, had been in effect since July 1, 1994.
Aug. 11, 1995: The Croatian government takes away the frequency of
Radio LAE, known for its opposition to the ruling Croatian
Democratic Union (HDZ), and turns it over to a government company,
FFI Commerce. FFI Commerce is said to have connections with HDZ
and President Tudjman.
March 29, 1996: The Croatian Parliament passes into law two
amendments to the Penal Code that threaten press freedom. One, a
seditious libel law, authorizes the public prosecutor to start
legal proceedings against anyone who has offended or slandered the
president, the parliament speaker, the prime minister or the
presidents of the supreme and constitutional courts. Earlier
legislation required the public figures themselves to file charges
against individuals for slander or offense. Under the new law, the
government leaders need only consent to charges brought by the
public prosecutor.
The second law makes it a criminal act to divulge classified
information "vital to state interests," though such state secrets
are left largely undefined.
*Note: President Tudjman did not have to approve the laws before
they took effect, as previously reported. The amendments only
needed to be signed into law by the president. This "act of
promulgation" is only a formality, not comparable to a veto, and
the law can only be abolished by an act of parliament.
April 7, 1996: The Croatian government imposes a US$2.5 million
fine on the independent daily Novi List for its alleged use of
printing equipment from Italy, which the government claims is
reserved for Italian-language newspapers in Croatia. On May 10,
the Croatian Minister of Finance decides to suspend the fine,
although by law Novi List must first pay the penalty and then
follow with an appeal. Novi List's editor in chief, however, is
optimistic that the fine against the newspaper will be suspended
indefinitely.
April 12, 1996: The two new amendments to the Penal Code, which
were passed by parliament on March 29 and signed by the president,
are published in the official government newspaper. As per
Croatia's procedures, the laws take effect eight days after
publication.
April 20, 1996: The two new amendments to the Penal Code passed by
Parliament on March 29, 1996, go into effect.
April 25, 1996: Members of the Croatian financial police enter the
offices of the weekly independent newspaper Panorama and order all
staff to leave within 15 minutes. The police proceed to lock all
the offices and charge the newspaper with violating "ecological"
standards. The offices are reopened on May 10 after CPJ and others
protest the shut-down.
April 29, 1996: The Feral Tribune publishes an article by Marinko
Culic entitled "Bones in the Mixer." The article is critical of
President Tudjman's recommendation to turn a World War II
concentration camp in Jasenovac, where thousands of Serbs were
killed by Croatian Fascists, into a memorial that would also honor
Croats killed under Communist rule in the former Yugoslavia as
well as those who died during the 1991 Croatian war against the
Serbs. The cover of the Tribune issue in which the article appears
displays a cartoon of a skeleton wearing a presidential sash that
reads: "We're all going to Jasenovac."
May 3, 1996: Viktor Ivancic, editor in chief of Feral Tribune, is
taken to police offices and informed that the general prosecutor
of Croatia has brought criminal charges against him and Feral
Tribune reporter Marinko Culic for "rudely and falsely slandering"
the president under the new "seditious libel" amendment to the
Penal Code approved March 29 by the Croatian Parliament. The
charges stem from the April 29 Feral Tribune article described
above. The journalists face up to three years' imprisonment if
convicted.
May 23, 1996: Nevenko Kosutic, the daughter of President Tudjman,
files a civil libel suit against Feral Tribune demanding 3.5
million kuna (US$635,000) in damages. Ms. Kosutic claims that the
Feral Tribune slandered her by publishing allegations that she set
up a prosperous business using government connections. Ms.
Kosutic's lawyer later asks the court to order the provisional
withdrawal of the money from Feral Tribune's bank account pending
a verdict in the suit.
May 30, 1996: Leaders of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) announce that the party intends to sue the weekly
independent newspaper Globus for a May 21 article that contends
that the ruling party has drafted a list of opposition politicians
whom they plan to denounce as public enemies. No legal action has
yet been taken.
June 14, 1996: The first session of the trial of Feral Tribune
editor Viktor Ivancic and reporter Marinko Culic on charges of
seditious libel opens in Zagreb. The judge at the trial
unexpectedly adjourned proceedings until September 25 to call new
witnesses. CPJ board member and First Amendment lawyer, James C.
Goodale, traveled to Zagreb to present an amicus brief, which
protested the grounds of the case, at the trial. Although the
judge did not accept the brief to be cited in court records, the
document was widely distributed at press conferences and public
meetings and segments were published in the Zagreb weekly, Globus.
CPJ followed up by writing press releases documenting the trial,
and a letter of protest to President Tudjman.
July 2, 1996: The editor of the television news program "Slikom na
Sliku" (Frame by Frame) is informed by officials at the government
television channel HTV, that HTV would no longer air the popular
program. No explanation was given for the program's cancellation.
CPJ wrote to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, urging him to
allow "Slikom na Sliku" to continue broadcasting. The show, which
had been running since January 1992 was a 45-minute program
containing interviews with prominent newsmakers and broadcasts
from abroad. It was the only television news program in Croatia to
cover the trial of Feral Tribune journalists Viktor Ivancic and
Marinko Culic.
Sept. 3, 1996: The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the ruling
party of Croatia, brought libel charges against Veljko Vicevic,
editor-in-chief of the independent daily Novi List, and Tihana
Tomicic, a columnist for the newspaper. The charges were filed
under the same legislation applied against the Feral Tribune
journalists -- Article 71 of the Croatian Criminal Code -- which
forbids publishing or broadcasting false information that can
injure the "honor and reputation" of public officials. The charges
stemmed from a recent column by Tomicic in which she compared the
political climate in Croatia before its first democratic
elections, held in 1990 to the situation in Germany just before
Adolf Hitler was elected. CPJ wrote to President Franjo Tudjman on
Sept. 4 to urge that the charges be dropped.
Sept. 3, 1996: The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the ruling
party of Croatia, brought charges against Ivo Pukanic, editor in
chief of the weekly independent newspaper Nacional, and Srecko
Jurdana, a columnist for the newspaper. The charges were filed
under the same legislation applied against the Feral Tribune
journalists -- Article 71 of the Croatian Criminal Code -- which
forbids publishing or broadcasting false information that can
injure the "honor and reputation" of public officials. Although no
stories were specified, the charges singled out Jurdana, known for
his frequent columns criticizing HDZ leaders. CPJ wrote a letter
to President Franjo Tudjman on Sept. 10 protesting the charges.
Ivo Skoric ***** iskoric@igc.apc.org
212.369.9197
PO Box 46, NYC NY 10029, USA
http://www.peacenet.org/balkans/
ivo.html