WASHINGTON, April 29 (Hina) - The media in Croatia were only partly free in 2003, with the printed media enjoying more freedom than the electronic, the New York-based organisation promoting political rights and civil freedoms, Freedom
House, said in its annual report on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON, April 29 (Hina) - The media in Croatia were only partly
free in 2003, with the printed media enjoying more freedom than the
electronic, the New York-based organisation promoting political rights
and civil freedoms, Freedom House, said in its annual report on
Wednesday.#L#
Croatia was rated as a country with partly free media, occupying 84th
place on a list of 193 countries covered by the organisation's study
"Freedom of the Press: A Global Survey of Media Independence". It
scored 37 points on a scale of 0-100, with 0 representing the best
score and 100 the worst.
The report says that most television stations in Croatia are still
partly owned by the government and are under strong political
pressure. The government continues to retain a national monopoly over
the main electronic medium, Croatian Radio and Television (HRT), which
was previously used as a nationalist propaganda tool by the regime of
the late president Franjo Tudjman.
The results of the survey of media freedom in Croatia for 2003 are
slightly worse than those for 2002, which were published in last
year's report, but the overall rating is the same. Last year Croatia
was also ranked as a country with partly free media, scoring 33 points
and occupying 83rd place.
The latest report also cites as a problem the fact that the ownership
structure of private media is largely non-transparent.
Freedom House says that reporters in Croatia are still exposed to
threats and violence, citing a case when a bomb was planted under the
car of Nino Pavic, a co-owner of Europa Press Holding, and threats
against reporters of the political weekly Globus after publishing a
series of articles on the criminal activities of several organised
crime groups.
The report, however, assessed as positive a series of laws that
Croatia adopted in 2003, including the Media Act, the Electronic Media
Act, the Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) Act, and the Right to
Access to Information Act. It says that the HRT Act represents an
improvement on the previous law, but that it gives too much control to
the Croatian Parliament over the appointment of members of the HRT
Council.
The report criticises proposed amendments to the Criminal Code and the
Press Act that would facilitate lawsuits against reporters criticising
public figures.
Some Croatian reporters have reported self-censorship and said they
are denied access to information, especially at local level, according
to the report.
Compared to 27 transition countries of Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union, Croatia was among the 10 best. The best was Estonia with
17 points and the worst Turkmenistan with 95. Eight of these countries
were rated as free, eight as partly free and 11 as not free.
The report was published in advance of World Press Freedom Day, which
is marked on May 3.
(Hina) vm