INTERNATIONAL PRESS INSTITUTE

EXCERPTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT ON PRESS FREEDOM

1999 World Press Freedom Review

CROATIA

President Franjo Tudjman died in December, leaving many Croats lamenting the demise of the ‘father of the nation’. He will not be remembered, however, as a guardian of the independent media – as he employed several methods to curtail free reporting.

Croatian journalists and newspapers continue to be subjected to draconian press laws and government harassment though the courts. Several hundred libel and defamation cases have been brought against journalists and newspapers, mostly by the ruling elite. Economic measures were also taken to assure that the reach of information opposing the HDZ was limited.

Government actions with regards to the press led Branko Salaj, director of Croatia’s state news agency, HINA, to resign in February, complaining that he had been overruled by top government officials on the appointment of a new editor. And on December 14, the editor-in-chief Benjamin Tolic stepped down after the agency had been scooped by foreign media and state television on the death of President Tudjam. Tolic said in a letter of complaint to the Prime Minister that the credibility of the agency had been hurt.

Government influence is also wielded over the press through the state-controlled newspaper distributor, Tisak. In January the weekly magazine Feral Tribune came under severe financial pressure due to the withholding of large sums of money owed to the publication by Tisak. The Feral Tribune is in good shape financially but the debts owed by Tisak amounted to over US$ 200,000, imposing problems for the newspaper in paying staff and printing. Tisak - which is owned by Miroslav Kutle, an influential member of the HDZ who was a close associate of former President Tudjman -- has a monopoly in Croatia on the distribution of print news. The Feral Tribune also faces some seventy lawsuits pending against it. It is widely believed that the government’s crusade against the newspaper is directly connected to its critical stance towards the HDZ.

Another weekly, Nacional, has also been exposed to the unjust strategies of Tisak. As with Feral Tribune, Nacional is refused money owed to it by Tisak, making it exceptionally difficult for it to operate.

Defamation and libel laws are widely used to stifle dissenting or critical voices. In Croatia journalists can be jailed for "slander or insult to the character of the President of the republic," or for spreading information liable to generate concern in the majority of the population," according to articles 71 and 191 of the penal code. Up until Tudjman’s death, the HDZ also controlled all public media, most notably state radio-television (HRT) which constitutes the primary source of information for the majority of Croatians. Helle Degn, president of the OSCE parliamentary assembly told Reuters in January that she was "informed that the state TV does not reflect the real range of political views and experiences in Croatia." On February 10, Mirko Galic, a top official with the HRT, resigned in protest at government interference in his work and a lack of democracy.

On May 7, in an event that sparked protests from many international organisations, including the IPI, a public prosecutor indicted journalist Orlanda Obad and four employees with the Zagrebacka Banka for revealing details of President Tudjman’s wife’s bank accounts. Apparently two of the bank employees had revealed information, published in the Jutarni List, that Ankica Tudjman had deposited nearly 500,000 German Marks (over US$ 275,000) in various accounts, which the President had failed to declare in a formal statement of his family’s assets. In Croatia, the generally accepted standard that public figures should tolerate greater scrutiny and criticism than regular citizens seems to have little practical application.

On June 7, editor-in-chief Ivo Pukanic and reporter Robert Bajrusi, both with Nacional, were summoned to a police station and questioned. Later on the police searched the offices of Nacional as well as the homes of Pukanic and Bajrusi. The harassment was directly connected to an article published by Nacional that accused President Tudjman of fixing the result of the Croatian soccer championship using the secret service agency (SZUP) to intimidate referees, and wiretapping sport officials and journalists. The alleged source of the article, former Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic, was also arrested and charged with disclosure of state secrets.

The press have also tried to use the government’s methods when fighting laws suits and legal harassment. On January 15, Nacional filed charges against the entire Interior Ministry, accusing it of wiretapping and keeping newspaper staff under surveillance. The trial, however, was postponed as the main defendant, Interior Minister Ivan Penic, failed to appear in front of the court. Nacional editor, Ivo Pukanic, presented the court with what he said was a classified police file, containing names of journalists, their sources and accounts of their contacts. Penic admitted in December last year that the secret police had been targeting individual journalists, but only when they were judged to be part of a "security problem." The suit however failed after the court’s decision not to summon two top intelligence officials as witnesses.

As the year progressed and the HDZ party started to lose electoral support, the party tightened their grip on the media, particularly state television HRT. Other political parties have put forward demands for reforms of the HRT but so far HDZ has made no concessions. The international community, in various statements, has also put forward proposals for a structural change of the HRT, which the OSCE claim is broadcasting "unbalanced programming." The HDZ has said that it is willing to discuss a new electoral law but insists on keeping the HRT law intact.

Many political experts believe that Tudjman will take many of the presidential informal powers he created with him to the grave. Democracy and power sharing may consequently flourish allowing Croatia to integrate more closely with European institutions.

go to top

P.O. Box, CH-8031 Zürich, Switzerland
Phone +41-1-272 46 37,  Fax +41-1-272 46 82, email: info@MEDIENHILFE.ch