He was answering the question why he had not printed a public apology in the latest issue weekly as announced after the UN court indicted him and three other persons for contempt.
"If it's established that I broke the Hague tribunal's rules I am willing to apologise, but I'm not willing to give up the printed truth," Marijacic told Hina.
Instead of an apology, he printed a copy of the indictment against him and former Assistant Defence Minister Markica Rebic, now writing for Hrvatski List.
They are charged with printing a March 1998 protected testimony from the trial of Bosnian Croat Tihomir Blaskic. The testimony of a Dutch officer with the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia was about the unsuccessful attempt by Miroslav Bralo, another Bosnian Croat, to surrender to the Hague tribunal in 1997 after learning of having been indicted. Bralo was allegedly returned from an SFOR base because the tribunal's Prosecution told the SFOR that he was not on the list of the accused.
Marijacic said he would print the testimony today as well because it was in the public interest which surpassed the rule of protecting a witness' identity. "It was supposed to show that the Prosecution had been unjustly accusing Croatia of hiding Bralo when they let him go themselves."
In its latest issue, Hrvatski List carried a statement by Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights president Zarko Puhovski, who said the indictment against Marijacic made no sense and that the tribunal had made a mistake.
Speaking to Hina today, Puhovski said the tribunal should not have reacted the way it did. He said the indictment was indeed legally founded, but that the contents were contentious. He said the protected testimony was printed after Blaskic's trial was over and that this, therefore, could not have affected the trial. He added the witness whose identity was revealed was not even theoretically in danger.
According to Puhovski, those who originally were in possession of information, such as Hague tribunal or Croatian state officials, should be held accountable for leaks before journalists or editors.