HND: PILSEL'S MARCH 10 STATEMENT ISN'T HND'S OFFICIAL POSITION

ZAGREB, March 13 (Hina) - The Croatian Journalists' Association's (HND) executive board on Monday said a March 10 statement by the HND Expert Group, which confused and dissatisfied some HND members, referred only to some conclusions from a round table on ethics, the profession, and the Law on Croatian Radio-Television (HRT). The HND in today's statement says the March 10 statement does not represent HND's official position, since neither the association's executive not central board, the only bodies authorised to do so, have taken a position on the statement. The March 10 statement, which was signed by HND vice president Drago Pilsel, among else said that HRT's coverage of a protest against Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic's sentence in front of the United States Embassy and government buildings in Zagreb indicated "it is high time Croatian citizens were liberated from the terror of false and tendentious reporting." That statement further said the HND welcomed a government initiative to take steps in connection with "irresponsible and unprofessional editors, for instance on HTV (Croatian Television)." "The HND Executive Board supports changes which lead to the transformation of state into public media, especially with regards to the HRT, but refuses to initiate or incite, outside of its authorities, any personnel changes in the stated media," the HND says in today's statement, which was signed by president Dragutin Lucic. (hina) ha jn