CRO JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION PRESSES CHARGES AGAINST ASSAILANTS, NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM SELECTOR

ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) on Monday pressed criminal charges against the two men who physically attacked "Jutarnji List" reporters Jadran Kapor and Mateo Rilovic on the island of Lopud last Thursday. The HND has also pressed charges against the Croatian national soccer team selector, Miroslav Ciro Blazevic, who stated that he had wished to kill the "Nacional" weekly's editor-in-chief Ivo Pukanic in order to save the state. The association said that although it was convinced that the judiciary should react to cases like these, it had decided not to wait and pressed charges in line with the Penal Code, which envisages fines or sentences of up to one year in prison for all those who order or carry out censorship, deny or limit a reporter's freedom of obtaining information or deny or limit a reporter's freedom of reporting, if no state, military or official secret is in question. Since violation of freedom of reporting is obvious in both cases, which threatened not only the reporters in question but also the whole profession and democracy, the HND believes it is obliged to react and protect its colleagues, read the statement, signed by HND president Jagoda Vukusic. (hina) rml