CULTURE WORKERS PROTEST MOTION ON HIGHER TAXES ON AUTHORS' FEES

ZAGREB, Mar 18 (Hina) - Representatives of Croatia's associations of artists, journalists, students, and cultural workers on Thursday said a government motion for new taxes on authors' fees and student work was a blow to culture, the media, science, and the academic community. An organisation coordinating the said associations today acquainted reporters in Zagreb with a protest letter forwarded to the President of the Republic, the government, the parliament, and the Croatian public. The associations seek the rescinding of the motion according to which authors' fees would be burdened by an additional 20 percent in tax. The motion will lead current cultural production to collapse and to a drastic reduction in the already scarce finances for science, the letter says. The government motion is also an attack on the media, with direct political implications, and also sows the seed of rebellion among students, the letter adds. The associations announced public protests in case the government fails to rescind its motion. Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic said the government measure was only a suggestion made by the working commission. He called on the associations' representatives to reduce the tension and to attend a meeting at the Culture Ministry on Friday when joint work on the motion should commence. (hina) ha jn