In a statement on measures taken with regard to the indicted reporters issued on Friday, the HND said that it requested the UN tribunal to content itself with apologies from the indictees, as it did in the case of Montenegrin reporter Dusan Jovanovic. However, the HND warned that it could not apologise instead of the reporters.
The HND goes on to say that it has established contact with representatives of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to seek assistance for the reporters who were indicted by the Hague tribunal on April 27 for contempt of court, namely for the disclosure of the identity and statements of protected witnesses in the trial of General Tihomir Blaskic. The indictees are the editor-in-chief of the Zadar-based weekly "Hrvatski list", Ivica Marijacic, a correspondent for the paper and former intelligence chief, Markica Rebic, and Stjepan Seselj and Domagoj Margetic, the director and the former editor-in-chief of the "Hrvatsko slovo" weekly respectively.
The HND says that its representatives held an informal meeting with the head of the ICTY Liaison Office in Zagreb and forwarded official notes to the secretary-general of the EFJ and the IFJ, Aidan White, and ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.
The HND said in the notes that under Croatian legislation and the practice of its courts and the International Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, a reporter or a medium has the right to publish secret documents, without facing legal consequences, if the content of those documents is in the interest of the common good. The HND noted, however, that journalists must not reveal the identity of protected witnesses because it threatens their safety and discourages potential witnesses from testifying.
Concluding the statement, the HND dismissed political and other forms of pressure that are detrimental to its efforts to help the indicted journalists and called on the EFJ, the IFJ and the ICTY to respond to its statement.