ORGANIZERS OF PETITION FOR FREEDOM OF MEDIA HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE

RIJEKA, April 23 (Hina) - The organizers of the "petition for the freedom of the media and against the misuse of state organs in confronting the dailies Novi List, Glas Istre and La Voce del Popolo" on Tuesday held a news conference in Rijeka. The signing of the petition was organized by a local party called the Rijeka Democratic Union and the branches of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) in Rijeka because the Novi List and the Italian Union (an organization of Italian minority) were ordered to pay a fine for customs and tax evasion. The petition had been signed by 30,200 persons in Rijeka and 38,573 persons in the region of Rijeka, representatives of the parties told the news conference. "The ruling Croatian Democratic Party (HDZ) is trying to destroy the Novi List because the daily has more and more influence on the public in the Croatian capital and the whole of Croatia," the president of the HSLS in Rijeka, Marko Ivanovic said. (hina) lm jn 231634 MET apr 96