SPLIT LOCAL TELEVISION 'ATV' SHUT DOWN

SPLIT, Jan 30 (Hina) - Local television in Split-Dalmatia County, called 'ATV', stopped broadcasting programme on Friday afternoon, after Croatian Transport and Communications Ministry workers switched off its relays. The Ministry gave an explanation for this act saying that the ATV licence for the relay on Mount Marjan had expired on December 31. According to the ATV, the state inspector for telecommunications, Miroslav Beluzic, disconnected the cable component of the TV system at about 01.30 pm, and the transmitting component at about 04.30 pm on Friday. One of the ATV editors, Eugen Jakovcic, told Hina that Beluzic had claimed that the disconnection had been carried out due to "technical faults of some instruments". Hina has not managed to contact inspector Beluzic. Since Drazen Budisa, the President of the Croatian Social and Liberal Party (HSLS), should have appeared in the ATV broadcast "Censorship" on Friday night, HSLS representatives believed that disconnection served to unable Budisa to participate in the broadcast. The HSLS party called reporters and political parties' representatives to come in the building of the ATV for a news conference. The ATV director, Andjelko Gabric, told Hina that it was a "great pity and mistake" to disconnect the ATV television. This local television broadcast programme from 02.00 pm to the midnight every day. At the HSLS invitation, reporters and local politicians such as Ivica Skaric, who is Split Mayor and an HSLS member, MPs Josko Kontic of HSLS and Marin Jurjevic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) gathered in the building of the ATV on Friday evening. Addressing the reporters, Budisa described the ATV disconnection as an offence committed in the Croatian media space . Budisa added that the state inspector had done this without previous announcement and therefore it was a "terrorist act" according to him. Protesting against such an act, the indignant HSLS leader said he could state on behalf of other six opposition parties that there would be no election in Croatia in this manner. He maintained that someone was intentionally pushing Croatia into political chaos and international isolation. Split Mayor Skaric told reporters he would demand the resignation of the Transport and Telecommunication Minister, Zeljko Luzavec. (hina) ms