ZAGREB, July 29 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula has replied to the OSCE representative for freedom of the media who expressed reservations about amendments to the Croatian Penal Code because they could affect freedom
of the media, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
ZAGREB, July 29 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula
has replied to the OSCE representative for freedom of the media who
expressed reservations about amendments to the Croatian Penal Code
because they could affect freedom of the media, the Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. #L#
Picula told OSCE's Freimut Duve in a letter that sanctions which the
Penal Code foresees for slander are milder in Croatia than in other
democratic European countries.
Picula says the amendments show the Croatian government's attempt
to adopt the best possible legal framework for the media industry
which will based on European values and standards.
A month ago the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
sent a letter to the government of Ivica Racan asking for the
withdrawal of draft Article 203 of the Penal Code.
The head of the OSCE mission in Croatia, Peter Semneby said in Split
on Monday that the OSCE had 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 protection for the media.
According to the OSCE, slander can the subject of a civil suit
launched by an individual against a reporter, and damages must not
endanger the survival of the media or a reporter.
Although there are countries, such as Germany, in which slander is
treated as a criminal offence, but in which the provision has not
been applied for decades, the introduction of such a provision in
the Croatian law is a big step backward, the OSCE ambassador said.
(hina) it sb