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Journalists On Trial For Defaming Tudjman
Feral Tribune editors face up the three years in prison.
Many see trial as a test of free media in Croatia.
By Zoran Radosavljevic
The two were accused of libelling the nationalist president in articles criticising his proposal that the remains of members of Croatia's World War Two Nazi puppet regime be reburied next to its Serb and Jewish victims. After the reading of the indictment and opening defence statements, Judge Marin Mrcela adjourned the trial until September 25. Reasons for the lengthy break were not given.
Tudjman floated the reburial idea to promote national reconciliation. His initiative has been apparently stalled by protests from Jews, Serbs and the United States. "It is Feral Tribune that is being tried for the damage that Tudjman inflicts on himself," Ivancic told the court after Mrcela rejected a defence request to throw out the charges. "It is too bad there is no law to protect the Croatian people from the president, but only the other way around."
Ivancic said Tudjman had taken umbrage at the way the articles likened him to the late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. But he said the newspaper had found that Tudjman's comments about reunifying his people echoed those of Franco. "We have done nothing in this case but call a spade a spade," Ivancic said, to laughter from a gallery filled with journalists and human rights activists.
Feral Tribune, with its satirical, muckraking articles and irreverent photo montages, has been a thorn in the side of the nationalist government that led Croatia to independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Feral has deflected attempts to silence it. Ivancic was temporarily detained in 1993 for allegedly
dodging military service. In 1994 the government imposed a huge "pornography tax" on Feral Tribune that could have bankrupted the weekly but Ivancic had the levy rescinded by court action.
"The authorities are showing nervousness in this trial," Ivo Banac, a Croat historian and Yale professor, said during a pro-Feral street demonstration by intellectuals and artists. "This is a test case (for free media)."
"It's interesting that the same thing happened to Feral under the (former Yugoslav) communist regime," said Davor Vodopija, a 33-year-old teacher. Croatia's governing HDZ party, facing growing disaffection
over high-handed rule and allegations of corruption, launched a new campaign against critical media earlier this year before key regional elections, diplomats say. Aside from the Feral Tribune indictment, the leading independent daily Novi List was hit with a $2.5 million fine for
allegedly evading import taxes and a weekly was temporarily closed for "environmental" offences."
Last week, criminal libel charges were filed against another major weekly, Globus, after it accused the government of drawing up a blacklist of political rivals. |
ZAGREB, June 14 (Reuters) - Two independent journalists went on trial on Friday accused of defaming President Franjo Tudjman in a case that has helped sour Croatia's relations with Western Europe. Viktor Ivancic and Marinko Culic, editor and lead writer of the satirical weekly Feral Tribune, were indicted under the criminal code which outlaws defamation of state leadership. They face up to three years in jail if convicted.
Berserkistan, June 5 · Suing an Editor to Protect Law and Order in Croatia
Berserkistan, May 29 · Croatia's Ruling Party Denies Blacklisting Opponents
Berserkistan, May 17 · Journalists to be Tried in June for Libeling Croatia's Tudjman
Berserkistan, May 16 · Europe's Rejection of Croatia Dismays Croats Seeking Democracy
Berserkistan, May 14 · Civil Liberties Crackdown Delays Croatia's European Plans
Berserkistan, May 10 · Croatia Accuses Its Human Rights Chief
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