ZAGREB, Oct 2 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's House of Representatives Wednesday passed a media bill with 100 votes in favour of the law, while four deputies (Croatian Party of Rights /HSP/ members) voted against it and seven
deputies (Istrian Democratic Alliance /IDS/, Croatian Christian Democratic Union /HKDU/ and some Croatian Peasant Party /HSS/ members) abstained.
ZAGREB, Oct 2 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's House of
Representatives Wednesday passed a media bill with 100 votes in
favour of the law, while four deputies (Croatian Party of Rights
/HSP/ members) voted against it and seven deputies (Istrian
Democratic Alliance /IDS/, Croatian Christian Democratic Union
/HKDU/ and some Croatian Peasant Party /HSS/ members) abstained.
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On Friday the Parliament's lower house adjourned a session
when 58 deputies voted in favour of the media bill, but the passage
of the bill required a majority vote of the total number of
deputies (or 64 votes in favour).
At today's session Vladimir Seks said Croatian Democratic
Union (HDZ) deputies had suggested to the Government that three
amendments be adopted which would erase from the proposed bill
articles concerning the obligation of publishers to provide
insurance against possible damage to third parties.
Opposition deputies and the Croatian journalists association
insisted at the previous discussion that the Government should
withdraw those articles as they could threaten the media freedom.
During the previous discussions on the bill the HDZ party
deputies were in favour of adopting a provision on the institution
of compulsory insurance within the media bill.
The media bill is based on guarantees for the freedom of
publishing information in line with the Constitution and
corresponding Council of Europe acts. The bill demands
responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of information.
According to the bill, information possessed by state authorities
should be available to journalists under equal conditions.
In case that an official should decline to give information, a
journalist has the right to file complaint to a body which will be
established by the act on the secrecy of data.
Under the media bill editors-in-chief must be Croatian
citizens and have permanent residence in the Republic of Croatia
besides general conditions. The bill also determines
responsibilities of the chief editors for the editorial treatment
of articles.
The bill specifies in detail how corrections should be
published, and notes cases when a publisher is free from the
responsibility for compensating for damage. Some of those cases are
value judgments when their publishing is in the public interest and
when they are published in good faith.
(hina) mm ms
021323 MET oct 96