ZAGREB, June 7 (Hina) - Crime police on Monday conducted a search of the offices of the Zagreb-based weekly 'Nacional', as part of an investigation launched by the Ministry of the Interior on June 3 against 'Nacional' employees
suspected of the criminal act of publishing a state secret. The weekly's deputy editor-in-chief Mladen Plese told Hina the police started the one-hour search at 3.50 pm after having presented a court order. According to the Ministry, sections of official documents from earlier police investigations were used in the conclusions of an article headlined "Service for the Protection of Constitutional Order Rigged the Soccer Championship Upon Orders by Tudjman". The publishing of such documents, i.e. information obtained by an yet uncompleted investigation constitutes a severe violation of the rights of individuals who have been brought in connection with criminal acts even before such acts have been
ZAGREB, June 7 (Hina) - Crime police on Monday conducted a search of
the offices of the Zagreb-based weekly 'Nacional', as part of an
investigation launched by the Ministry of the Interior on June 3
against 'Nacional' employees suspected of the criminal act of
publishing a state secret.
The weekly's deputy editor-in-chief Mladen Plese told Hina the
police started the one-hour search at 3.50 pm after having
presented a court order.
According to the Ministry, sections of official documents from
earlier police investigations were used in the conclusions of an
article headlined "Service for the Protection of Constitutional
Order Rigged the Soccer Championship Upon Orders by Tudjman".
The publishing of such documents, i.e. information obtained by an
yet uncompleted investigation constitutes a severe violation of
the rights of individuals who have been brought in connection with
criminal acts even before such acts have been proven, the Ministry
said, dismissing the 'Nacional' article.
The article contains "a number of blatant, ill-intentioned lies
constituting serious criminal acts", the Ministry said, adding
charges would be pressed against the author of the article and other
persons responsible for it.
Due to founded suspicion that they have committed the criminal act
of publishing a state secret, the Interior Ministry has launched an
investigation against the author of the article and other
responsible "Nacional" employees.
In a statement for the press, assistant to the "Nacional" editor-
in-chief Mladen Plese said that he, editor-in-chief Ivo Pukanic and
reporter Robert Bajrusi had this morning been taken for an
interrogation to the Zagreb police station. According to his
information, Pukanic's and Bajrusi's apartments had been searched
during the day.
The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) issued a statement
about the search of the 'Nacional' offices, describing it as 'an
impudent attack on the freedom of the press'.
"We can understand that the police are edgy because their search for
a 'journalist mole' in the Interior Ministry has obviously failed;
we can also understand that the search is a regular investigation
method, but there is no reason why we should understand or accept
such a form of violation of the autonomy of any editorial board",
the HND statement read.
(hina) jn rml