ZAGREB RESIDENTS SIGN PETITION FOR REPLACED TV EDITOR

ZAGREB, Mar 5 (Hina) - The signing of a petition demanding the return of Ivo Loncar to his editor's post at a Croatian agricultural television show and the abolishment of censorship on Croatian Television (HTV) began in downtown Zagreb on Friday. More than 400 citizens signed the petition at Preradovic Square during the first hour, said Damir Matkovic, president of Forum 21, an independent organisation gathering electronic media journalists, which arranged the petition signing. Matkovic told reporters Loncar had been replaced at a request of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union's officials. Forum 21 demands the elimination of politics from programmes' editorial policies, as well as the transformation of HTV from a government and ruling party-oriented television into a public- oriented one. Loncar was proclaimed Journalist of the Year in 1998 by the Croatian Journalists' Association. The ratings of the "Plodovi Zemlje" show rose from five to 26 percent during the time he edited it. So far, Loncar has received support from 160 HTV colleagues. His health has seriously deteriorated however and he has been admitted to hospital in pre-coronary state. (hina) ha mm