ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatian journalists on Thursday condemned proposed legislation that would effectively outlaw the leaking of information from criminal proceedings, saying it was an attempt to silence their sources.
Anyone disclosing the contents of “an investigative or evidentiary action” could be jailed for up to three years, according to new amendments to the country’s penal code.
Parliament began reviewing them on Thursday. The amendments do not explicitly mention journalists but rather focuses on judicial officials, police, lawyers and witnesses.
But Hrvoje Zovko, the head of Croatia’s journalists’ association (HND), told AFP: “These amendments are a brutal aggression against the journalistic profession and public interests.”
The bill would likely reduce information provided by whistleblowers, making reporting on corruption cases and public affairs issues increasingly difficult, he added.
The government has rejected such accusations. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the bill “addresses the problem of the leaking of information in the non-public phase of criminal proceedings”.
