ZAGREB, April 27 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's Committee on Human and Minority Rights on Tuesday endorsed an amendment by the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) to the government-sponsored media bill under which a journalist
could not be ordered by a court to reveal his sources, contrary to what the government's bill envisages.
ZAGREB, April 27 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's Committee on Human
and Minority Rights on Tuesday endorsed an amendment by the Croatian
Journalists' Association (HND) to the government-sponsored media bill
under which a journalist could not be ordered by a court to reveal his
sources, contrary to what the government's bill envisages.#L#
External committee member Ivan Zvonimir Cicak said a court ordering a
journalist to reveal his source would seriously infringe on
journalists' rights and that there were no parameters on the basis of
which a court could decide which cases were of considerable public
interest and required a journalist revealing his source.
He proposed that the bill retain a provision from the 1996 Media Law
under which a journalist is not bound to reveal his source of
information to bodies of public authority, including courts.
A representative of the Culture Ministry, who defended the bill, said
the government trusted the judiciary and that courts should be given
the right to make decisions, including those on which cases or events
were of considerable public interest.
Cicak also announced amendments under which the replacement or
appointment of an editor-in-chief of a media company would require the
votes of at least 33 percent of staff members.
The Committee on the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure and the
Political System should have discussed the bill today as well, but did
not due to lack of a quorum.
(Hina) rml