HDZ RESPONDS TO JOURNALISTS' PROTEST OVER SANADER'S STATEMENT

ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) issued a statement on Wednesday following protests by Croatian Radio reporters and the Croatian Journalists Association (HND) over the statement by the HDZ leader that "Croatian Radio can lie until November 23". #L# The HDZ said in the statement that in his political work their president Ivo Sanader fully supported freedom of the media, but also responsibility for public speech. The statement said that the president was right to respond to the Croatian Radio reports that said that HDZ rallies attended by some ten thousand people were attended by several hundred people. "It is intolerable that Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) should continue to act as the mouthpiece of the SDP (Social Democratic Party) even during the election campaign. It has nothing to do with objective and fair journalism, but it does with propaganda," it said. The statement added that Sanader had said that after the November 23 elections, "HRT should be finally transformed into a public radio and television network that would no longer be a mouthpiece for the SDP." The HND and Croatian Radio reports said earlier today that Sanader's statements were a threat to free reporting. (hina) vm sb