ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - Culture Ministry State Secretary Jadran Antolovic said on Thursday that pursuant to the new Media Act journalists would not be punished if they refused to obey a court order to reveal their source of
information.
ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - Culture Ministry State Secretary Jadran
Antolovic said on Thursday that pursuant to the new Media Act
journalists would not be punished if they refused to obey a court
order to reveal their source of information.#L#
Under the Media Act, journalists are not obliged to reveal the source
of information that has been published or will be published, and this
right also applies to the editor-in-chief, editors and authors of
articles who are not journalists.
"The most important thing is that there are no sanctions for not
respecting that article, which means that journalists who refuse to
obey a court order to reveal their source will not be punished,"
Antolovic told Hina.
Under the new law, the Office of the Public Prosecutor can file a
request with a competent court to order a journalist to reveal their
source only when that is warranted by the interests of national
security, territorial integrity or health care.
A court may order a journalist to reveal their source only if that is
necessary for the protection of public interests in particularly
important or serious situations, Antolovic said, adding that for
example a journalist cannot be ordered to disclose information
relating to fugitive general Ante Gotovina, but they can be if they
are suspected of having information about an act of terrorism.
Antolovic said that the main reason why the provisions on the
disclosure of sources of information were included in the new law was
"the September 11 events in the United States and the global
anti-terrorist movement".
(Hina) vm sb