"REPORTERS SANS FRONTIERES" WRITE TO CROATIAN PRESIDENT

ZAGREB, April 2 (Hina) - "Reporters sans frontieres", an independent organization for defence of the freedom of the press round the world, on Tuesday asked the Croatian president not to sign amendments to the Criminal Law adopted by the Croatian parliament last week. The Paris-based organization said in a letter to President Franjo Tudjman that the adoption of the text would lead to prosecution of rare independent or opposition newspapers in Croatia. It said that there was no doubt that one of the first targets of the law would be the Split-based satirical weekly "Feral Tribune" which had been exposed to government pressure for years. The law would encourage all Croatian journalists to exercise self-censorship in their political commentaries or whenever they tackle a real or supposed "state secret", the letter said. "Reporters sans frontieres, extremely concerned after Parliament adopted the law, demand that you not sign the law and that you take into account the Croatian Constitution which protects the freedom of information," it said. Reporters Without Frontiers sent a copy of the letter to Hina and international human rights organizations such as the Amnesty International, the UN Committee for Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights and journalists' associations. (hina) vm 022021 MET apr 96