2024 is a super-election year in Croatia wherein Croatians will have the opportunity to elect their president, representatives to parliament, and representatives to the European Parliament. The party currently in power, the Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, HDZ), is determined to win these elections.
Yet, the same party has been linked to multiple scandals, including ministry officials accused of misappropriation of funds and others responsible for causing deadly car crashes. In an attempt to avoid additional bloopers and uncomfortable conversations, the government has embarked on a mission to limit the space for press freedom, hoping that less embarrassing information will reach voters.
Journalists fight back
On Wednesday, January 31, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) organized protests in the cities of Zagreb and Split to counter the latest crackdown on press freedom. Specifically, they protested a new draft penal code, under discussion in parliament, that would criminalize the unauthorized leaking of information from criminal proceedings, making sources and journalists prey to state harassment.
Hrvoje Zovko, president of the CJA, stated that the legislation would turn the country into “a shell of a democracy.”
According to one article in the draft legislation, public officials, including members of the police, legal experts, advisors, and lawyers involved in proceedings investigating possible criminal acts by government representatives and ministries, could face up to three years in prison if they leak information. Journalists publishing such information wouldn’t face direct jail time, but they would likely be subject to lengthy inquiries to confirm if the published information was in the public interest.
The provisions of the law would include the police’s power to seize and detain journalists’ equipment to track leaks. This not only jeopardizes information and sources related to primary cases but also puts at risk information relevant to other investigations conducted by media workers, as the draft law offers virtually no protection against the exploitation of its provisions by the police and the public prosecutor’s office.
The risk should not be underestimated, especially as the new penal code is being discussed concurrently with the appointment of a new State Attorney General, who has expressed anti-media stances and support for the proposed legislation.
Some of those at the protest said that if the law is passed, it would mark the end of investigative journalism in Croatia. One of the media workers said that, if the law is passed, journalists will openly violate it and call upon everyone else to follow their example.
Government seeks to silence critical or prying voices
The roots of the problematic articles in the penal code can be traced back to the inquiry into ex-Minister of Regional Development Gabrijela Žalac. Messages leaked to the press suggested that someone with the initials AP was implicated in activities that landed Žalac under investigation for corruption. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković found himself among those singled out by the public as possible faces behind the initials.
After that, Plenković announced the government’s intention to change the law to prevent situations like these – “where things from official files are published in an uncontrolled, deliberate, political, selective, arranged manner and cause political problems” – from happening again.
The provisions in the draft criminal act are just one way in which Plenković’s government has attempted to shape the media field. In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Media drafted a media bill that foresaw bans for media workers from criticizing courts and state attorneys’ offices, along with obligations to disclose their sources to editors upon request.
The CJA and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists have opposed the government’s plans, garnering support from international media workers’ organizations. Both organizations also fight against affronts to press freedom through targeted lawsuits against journalists and media organizations. Croatia has one of the highest numbers of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in Europe, according to the associations, with 940 recorded in 2023 and 951 in 2022.
“A big majority of these lawsuits are legally unjustified, but aim to intimidate and drain the financial resources of media outlets and companies,” Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists said of the situation in Croatia back in 2022.
Despite the government’s determination to limit space for engaged media work during an election year, journalists and media workers said they will not be intimidated or fooled. Government officials downplay the risks posed by the penal code draft, but based on the government’s track record, journalists have little doubt that, if passed, it will further restrict media freedom.
“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining,” Maja Sever, president of the media workers’ trade union, told the government during a speech at the protest.
