HND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS LETTERS FROM PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

ZAGREB, 25 April (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Journalists' Society (HND), Dragutin Lucic, said on Friday that the HND Executive Committee would next week hold a debate on the letters from the President's Office which express concern over some unacceptable occurrences in the media. #L# The head of state personally sent a letter to the HND president about ten days ago and yesterday Lucic received another letter signed by the secretary of the President's Office Zeljko Bagic. "I will inform the members of the Executive Committee about the letter from President Stjepan Mesic at the next committee session. The letter reasonably points to certain bad things in the Croatian media," Lucic told Hina. In his letter, Bagic said that the question from a poll conducted by the Globus weekly should Premier Ivica Racan and President Stjepan Mesic end up the same as murdered Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic because "this is the only salvation for Croatia", clearly implicated a call for their murder. "Such questions are completely unacceptable and I believe this represents a sensational approach behind which there is a desire for better circulation and profit," Lucic said and added that the committee would examine both letters after which it would decide on further steps. He stressed that the HND was doing a lot to encourage cultural dialogue, but that unfortunately, incidents which offend human rights and dignity in the Croatian media were not rare. (hina) it sb