CROATIA

Country Summary

This was an unstable year for press freedom in Croatia. The passage of two amendments to the Croatian Criminal Code unleashed a string of libel cases against independent journalists. The amendments greatly facilitated the process by which journalists could be charged with libel against five top government officials.

In June, in the first trial under this law, two journalists from the satirical weekly Feral Tribune were charged with libeling President Franjo Tudjman. CPJ selected the case as emblematic of the use of seditious libel, or anti-government “insult” charges, against journalists in Croatia as well as throughout the former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe, and prepared a legal brief condemning the statute and the indictment CPJ board member James C. Goodale presented the brief to the court trying the case. Goodale noted that the use of such seditious libel laws was “fundamentally antithetical to the values of a democratic society.” The September acquittal of the two journalists, an editor and a reporter, was hailed as a victory for domestic journalists’ groups as well as for CPJ and other international press freedom advocates. By year’s end, the state had appealed the acquittal, and at least two other cases under the new amendments were pending. (See special report, p. 263)

CPJ Chair Kati Marton met with several independent journalists and with President Tudjman during a six-day fact-finding mission to the Balkans in April. During Marton’s meeting with Tudjman, he insisted that no government leader would tolerate the satirical criticism he faces from the Croatian press, but Marton told him that democratic leaders would permit it. Tudjman, a former Communist general who himself was once imprisoned for his writings, repeated his comments in public and followed them up with a rash of incidents of harassment of print and broadcast media.

Tudjman’s ruling Croatian Democratic Party refused to renew the license of Radio 101, an independent radio station that once aired Tudjman’s dissident views about Communist authorities. When the government gave the popular Radio 101’s frequency to another station, at least 6,000 people gathered in Zagreb’s center to show their contempt for the decision. Taxi drivers circled the station’s offices, honking their horns in support of Radio 101. Authorities softened their stance, and by year’s end they were re-evaluating the status of Radio 101 and its frequency.

Although Tudjman actively sought Croatia’s entry into the Council of Europe, the council delayed admitting the country, largely because of the government crackdown on the media, begun in March. But the Council reconsidered Croatia’s status after the Croatian parliament passed a more liberal media law on Oct. 2, and Croatia was admitted to the Council on Nov. 6.

While the new media law sets more lenient guidelines for journalists, its wording is ambiguous. For example, the law absolves publishers of liability for information causing “offense,” but only if the material is considered to be reported in good faith and in the public interest. Furthermore, the new law authorizes the government to force newspapers to run corrections and clarifications.

Throughout the year, Croatia’s ruling party continued to use arcane and often spurious legal maneuvers, such as tax inspection and restriction of broadcast licenses, to silence critical, independent voices in the media. The main national newspapers and Croatian radio and television remained under the control of the ruling party.

For more information contact europeweb@cpj.org