Croatian Journalists' Association

Hrvoje Zovko, president of the Croatian Journalists' Association. HND. Photo: SNH

Croatian police say they are investigating death threats made to Boris Dezulovic, a well-known Croatian journalist and columnist, over a column he published recently deriding the official cult surrounding Vukovar - the eastern town besieged and occupied by Serbs in the war of independence - whose provocative title has raised hackles.

Journalists' organisations in Croatia have voiced support for the axed staff of a regional daily after the management of Glas Istre dismissed three journalists who criticized its editorial policy.

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic drew condemnation on Thursday after he insulted reporters from the public broadcaster Croatian Radio Television, HRT, in the coastal city of Split, accusing them of being tricksters, mercenaries and an embarrassment to the country.

At least 924 lawsuits against the media and journalists are active in Croatia, in which plaintiffs are demanding almost 78.5 million kunas in total, or some 10 million euros, which marks an increase in the number of lawsuits compared to last year, when the number was 905, the latest annual survey done by the Croatian Journalists' Association, HND, reveals.

The Croatian public broadcaster, HRT, confirmed on Tuesday that it had again sacked Hrvoje Zovko, a veteran reporter and president of the Croatian Journalists' Association, HND, for violent behaviour in the workplace. Zovko did not receive an official notice terminating his employment.

After new legislation on copyright and related rights issues passed first its reading in the Croatian parliament, journalists' associations are warning that it will not adequately protect the rights of journalists and that it gives greater rights to publishers.

"More or less, it is going well, but the problem is that there is that certain number of people you will never reach because they are simply grounded in their own beliefs for a long time, they reject argumented dialogue," Vidov told BIRN in an interview.

So-called 'anti-vaxxers' perceive the debunking of fake news "as a threat to their agenda," he said.

"Under labour law, it is the union that has the legal basis to negotiate with an employer about possible cutbacks. Basically, it's the one institution that we have with which we can fight for our rights, even in crisis situations like this, but also in situations where we are not in some kind of crisis," Sever said.

Government should protect media workers

The exhibition entitled 'Beyond the Seven Camps: From Crime of Culture to Culture of Crime' by Croatian photojournalist Hrvoje Polan opened on Thursday at the Zagreb Journalists' House, depicting cultural centres that were turned into detention facilities where people were tortured and killed during the 1990s wars.