SPLIT, July 28 (Hina) - The head of the OSCE mission in Croatia has said that refugee returns an the media freedom are very important issues for Croatia not only because of political relations in the country but also because of its
bids to come closer to the European Union.
SPLIT, July 28 (Hina) - The head of the OSCE mission in Croatia has
said that refugee returns an the media freedom are very important
issues for Croatia not only because of political relations in the
country but also because of its bids to come closer to the European
Union. #L#
The most important task at the moment is the return of refugees and
this requires strong political engagement of authorities at all
levels, Peter Semneby said at an informal meeting with reporters in
the coastal city of Split on Monday.
He said he had discussed this matter with authorities of the city of
Split and Split County. According to Semneby, he told his
interlocutors that refugees should be allowed to return to flats in
which they had tenancy right or they should be allowed to receive
fair restitution.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
welcomes the government's initiative from June and its call to
everybody to come back, the OSCE official said but expressed
concern that the programme would produce poorer results than
expected.
In Split, Semneby held talks with editorial staff of Slobodna
Dalmacija and Feral Tribune on journalists' position in light of
plans for the adoption of a new media law and amendments to the Penal
Code which treated slander as a criminal offence.
The stance of the OSCE is clear, and a month ago the Organisation
sent a letter to the Ivica Racan Cabinet asking for the withdrawal
of draft Article 203 of the Penal Code, Semneby said adding that the
government had not yet responded to the letter. He, however, added
that after contacting the ministry of European integration there
were indications that the article would be changed.
According to him, the OSCE has given a clear message that slander
should be defined in the way it was treated in the previous Penal
Code, which was a sort of the protection for the media.
According to the OSCE's stance, slander can be a case of the civil
suit launched by an individual against a reporter, but damages must
not endanger the survival of the media or a reporter.
Although there are some countries, such as Germany, in which
slander is treated as a criminal offence but in which the provision
of the relevant law has not been applied for decades, the
introduction of such a provision in the Croatian judiciary is a big
step backward, the OSCE ambassador said.
Regarding the media freedom, the situation in Croatia is worrying,
Semneby said pointing to the fact that the enforcement of a law on
Croatian Radio Television (HRT), as the most powerful media, had
been postponed and to the fact that a new HRT council had not yet
been set up.
The OSCE is following the process of the sale of the Croatian
Television's Third Channel, as this will be an important step
towards diversity and different influences on the Croatian media
scene.
Asked by a reporter whether a journalist, whose right to work is
engendered because of political revanchism, can ask the OSCE for
help, Semneby answered that the OSCE was open for such cases and
that everybod could freely contact it i such cases.
(hina) ms sb