HSS LEADER PROTESTS TO OSCE MISSION OVER ANNOUNCED AMENDMENTS TO HRT LAW

ZAGREB, Feb 26 (Hina) - Peasant Party (HSS) leader Zlatko Tomcic sent an open letter to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Croatia on Thursday, expressing his shock at an announcement by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) that the Law on Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) would be urgently amended.#L# Tomcic wrote that the way in which the HDZ had initiated amendments to the law and the lack of arguments for its proposal were far from "usual democratic practice". He questioned the election of a three-member commission for amending the law without a previous public debate, and said that two members were in a situation that constituted a conflict of interest. He pointed out that the commission had been appointed by politicians rather than experts. Tomcic further said that the present members of the HRT Programmes Council had been elected by consensus of all parliamentary parties and that the present procedure for the election of Council members prevented the possibility of one party influencing the election of an HRT director. The HSS leader asked the OSCE to assess the work of the Programmes Council "in order to defend the honour and dignity of Council members". The HSS has a positive view of the work of Council members. The letter said that frequent changes of the law and the extension of the interim status of HRT editors was more detrimental to democracy and freedom of the media than the imperfect law itself, as both journalists and employees at HRT had realised. Tomcic said his letter was prompted by Wednesday's statement by the HRT branch of the Trade Union of Journalists and the Croatian Journalists' Association, which voiced opposition to new and hasty amendments to the law. (Hina) vm sb