MINTAS-HODAK DISCUSSES FREEDOM OF MEDIA WITH INTERNATIONAL DELEGAT

DELEGAT $ ION ZAGREB, May 21 (Hina) - Croatian deputy prime minister Ljerka Mintas-Hodak on Tuesday received a delegation of the European Commission, UNESCO and WTN television station. Mintas-Hodak said that the Croatian government had tried to create modern and liberal legislation in the area of information, citing as examples the new media law and the telecommunications law, which had been favourably evaluated by the Council of Europe. She stressed that almost all major weeklies were fully in private ownership, as was also the case with a certain number of daily newspapers. The Croatian government aimed to protect public figures and other citizens from defamation, she said. Mintas-Hodak put forward a proposal for setting up an international team of experts, including people with knowledge of Croatian, to monitor the media and their freedom. UNESCO and WTN representatives offered technical assistance to the Croatian government for promoting freedom of the media in Croatia. (hina) vm mm 211822 MET may 96