The state attorney’s office in Split has decided not to launch proceedings for death threats issued against journalists.
“The Croatian Journalists’ Society (HND) strongly condemns the scandalous decision made by the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Split, which has dismissed the criminal charges against Stipe Perković Tabak, who used the Index.hr Facebook page in late May to threaten to kill the journalists working for the website. Perković Tabak wrote the comment: ‘These Index.hr’s journalists should be killed’,” wrote the HND in a statement signed by president Hrvoje Zovko, reports Index.hr on August 7, 2018.
The HND points out that Deputy Municipal State Attorney Jelena Maraš wrote in the explanation of the shameful decision that Perković Tabak was celebrating his birthday on the day he wrote the comment and that he had a little bit too much to drink, and that he was “carried away by emotions,” and she especially emphasized that he is “highly decorated Croatian veteran.”
“We consider it unacceptable that the deputy municipal state attorney, whose duty is to enforce laws and protect the rule of law, uses her decisions to make it possible for a societal group to be above the law which is applicable to other citizens of the state and thus violates the constitutional principle of the equality of citizens before the law. HND considers such arbitrary interpretation the law to be inadmissible and the position of the deputy municipal state attorney, that the comment was not a serious intimidation, to be shameful,” the statement reads.
The HND points out that such decisions by the Municipal State Attorney’s Office send the wrong message and encourage those who want to threaten journalists and anyone else. “According to the interpretation offered by the deputy municipal state attorney, nothing will happen to them if they are ‘highly decorated war veterans,’ and if they are carried away by emotions in a situation where they had a little bit too much to drink. The HND calls on all the relevant institutions to respect the laws without exception.
The HND will inform the European Federation of Journalists and other international organizations which protect the freedom of journalism about the decision”, reads the statement.
Translated from Index.hr.
