Yesterday, Hedl found the letter in his post box in Osijek, where he lives. The letter, whose author is still unknown, was composed of letters cut out from newspapers. The message in the letter read "We shall kill you and your Levar", an allusion to the case of Milan Levar, a witness for the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, who was killed in an explosion in the front yard of his house in the central town of Gospic in August 2000. Levar testified for the international war crimes tribunal about crimes committed against Serbs in the Gospic area in 1991.
The authors of the letter thus have also issued threats against possible prosecution witnesses from Osijek.
The post stamp indicates that the letter was sent from Osijek on 5 December.
The local police chief said today Hedl had reported the threats and police were investigating the case.
"The police are investigating the case to discover the author of the threatening letter and measures have also been taken to ensure protection for Drago Hedl," police chief Stipo Rimac told Hina.
The Feral Tribune has called on international and Croatian organisations and Croatian authorities to protect reporters' right to work free of any influence and to raise their voice against "the atmosphere of intimidation and lynching" which the weekly says has been prevailing in Osijek for some time.
The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) has called on the police to spare no effort to find those who threatened the journalist.
The HND has also informed the Croatian and European Journalists' Federations of this case.
The Association describes the letter as yet another attempt to exert pressure on reporters writing about the dark sides of Croatian politics in the 1990's and on witnesses to crimes committed against Serb civilians in Osijek in 1991 and those investigating the crimes.