"They want to purge television, they want to control television, they want to introduce a state television, they want something the cultured world would not even consider," Mesic said, according to Croatian Radio.
Asked by the press if he was referring to the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the president said "they can establish their own television, I have nothing against that, and (HDZ deputy Andrija) Hebrang can be the editor, the director of the television, but they should create their own television and not transform public television into a partisan television. That won't do".
Mesic went on to say that it was "unbelievable that the death of an ill man is being used for a smear campaign against a show or against a journalist". He was referring to a war veteran who the media claimed committed suicide after watching Monday's edition of "Latinica", which focused on late President Franjo Tudjman's legacy and was fiercely criticised in parliament yesterday and today.