The former editor in chief of Split's Slobodna Dalmacija daily was found guilty and fined on August 30. He was given 30 days to pay the fine.
The Appeals Chamber on September 29 accepted the defence arguments, deciding to delay payment until it decided whether to uphold the ruling, when it would become final.
In a motion, the defence referred to a person's universal right to be considered innocent until the verdict became final, and claimed the enforcement of a sentence handed down by a trial chamber was an exception implemented only in cases of utmost urgency.
Jovic was found guilty of revealing the identity and testimony of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, a protected witness at a trial six years ago, and of continuing to publish excerpts from the testimony although the Hague tribunal had ordered him to stop.
The Hague tribunal declassified Mesic's testimony last year. Slobodna Dalmacija published transcripts of his testimony in November and December 2000, when he had already been elected president.