Maletic said on Monday that he decided to step down after editor in chief Darko Djuretek "has spread lies to the Croatian public and defamed the Vjesnik company and him, as well".
The statement that it is the governing council that selected reporters (who should be laid off) and defined the criteria (for their dismissal) "is a gross lie and delusion of the Croatian public," Maletic wrote in the letter to the Vjesnik supervisory board's chairman, Dragomir Madjeric. According to Maletic, it is Djuretek who chose those who are to be sacked.
Lately there have been some speculations that 24 workers from Vjesnik, including reporters, would be laid off, which was met with disapproval from Croatian journalists' associations that claim that criteria for possible lay-offs are unclear.