OSCE Mission concerned over prison sentence for libel, calls for reform of Croatian libel legislation

ZAGREB, 13 July 2004 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia has expressed concern that a Croatian journalist was yesterday sentenced to prison for libel.

The Split Municipal Court sentenced journalist Ljubica Letinic to a two-month suspended prison term. The verdict is now open to appeal.

"It is unacceptable that journalists should face prison sentences for their work," said OSCE Mission Spokesperson, Alessandro Fracassetti.

In another case, the editor-in-chief of the former Novi Brodski List has refused to pay a fine and consequently will be serving a prison term in accordance with Article 200 of the Croatian Criminal Code for libel.

"The possibility of prison sentences being imposed on journalists may have a chilling effect on the freedom of the media," Fracassetti said.

The OSCE Mission, echoing recent statements by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, is again calling on the government to remove libel and defamation from the criminal code to the civil code, or at least start by removing incarceration as punishment for these offences.

Changes to the Croatian Criminal Code currently being discussed in Parliament do not fully decriminalize libel.

The Croatian Journalists' Association fully agrees with the process of decriminalisation of libel.