ZAGREB, Nov 16 (Hina) - The organisation called Reporters WithoutBorders (Reporters Sans Frontiers or RSF) on Tuesday condemned anon-final ruling made by a court in Split which sentenced a Croatianreporter, Vladmir Matijanic, to a
suspended three-month prisonsentence for defaming a former soccer player, Igor Stimac.
ZAGREB, Nov 16 (Hina) - The organisation called Reporters Without
Borders (Reporters Sans Frontiers or RSF) on Tuesday condemned a non-final
ruling made by a court in Split which sentenced a Croatian reporter, Vladmir
Matijanic, to a suspended three-month prison sentence for defaming a former
soccer player, Igor Stimac.The suspended sentence was ruled by the municipal court in the Adriatic
city of Split on 11 November against Matijanic, a reporter of the Feral Tribune
weekly, who was indicted for defaming local soccer official Stimac.
Matijanic has said he will appeal against the ruling.
"Under recommendations from the UN and the Organisation for Security and
Co-opeation in Europe (OSCE), press offences should not be punished by prison
terms," a press release issued by the RFS reads.
The organisation regards the Split court's ruling as "a serious setback
to the progress the country had made in press freedom over the past few
years".