Croatian Journalists' Association

Hundreds of human rights activists marched through the centre of the Croatian capital Zagreb on Saturday to highlight what they claim is a worrying rise in political repression in the country.

The Faculty of Medicine in the Croatian city of Split expressed concern on Thursday over the expected arrival of British anti-vaccination campaigner Andrew Wakefield, describing his work as highly questionable.

"Suddenly, at the age of 48, the photojournalist Hrvoje Polan has left us. For nearly three decades, Hrvoje has been dealing with news and documentary photography," the Croatian Journalists' Association announced on Monday.

Polan worked for numerous newspapers and agencies, from satirical Croatian weekly magazine Feral Tribune to Reuters, before going freelance.

Croatian reporters and media outlets staged a protest in Zagreb on Saturday in defense of media freedom - which they say is increasingly endangered by numerous lawsuits, political pressures, threats, and advertisers' demands.

They complain of routine disrespect for the laws - but also of a bad legal framework and the absence of a clear media policy.

Lawmakers in Croatia will discuss on Wednesday a spate of lawsuits filed by the country's public broadcaster against journalists, media outlets and journalism associations, a practice critics say amounts to an attack on media freedom.

The cases brought by Croatian Radio-Television, HRT, will be on the agenda of parliament's Committee on Information, Computerisation and Media.

Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, has swiftly apologised for making a patronising and sexist answer to a female journalist after she asked a question about a scandal involving leaked inside information on police and prosecution operations.

HRT has been criticised again for sacking Hrvoje Zovko, one of its journalists and editors, who is also the president of the Croatian Journalists' Association, CJA, amid an ongoing row over an alleged right-wing 'purge' at the pubic broadcaster.

Denis Romac, vice-president of the Croatian Journalists' Association, told BIRN that the attack on journalist Hrvoje Bajlo on Sunday evening in Zadar was a consequence of state institutions not reacting properly to a recent alleged threat to another reporter by a government minister.

The head of the Croatian Journalists' Association, Sasa Lekovic, accused Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovuic of "avoiding giving citizens information", after her office said that all documents about her trip to Washington in January were "confidential".

The European Federation of Journalists, EFJ, said on Monday that it felt "deeply concerned by the increase of hate speech and direct threats towards journalists in Croatia while impunity remains rampant".

"An alert will be submitted to the platform of the Council of Europe for the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists," EFJ stated.