Five nongovernmental associations on Tuesday issued a protest letter against the conduct of the Croatian national broadcaster (HRT) management in the case of journalists Maja Sever and Elizabeta Gojan who have been served with dismissal warnings over their alleged lack of professionalism and the violation of ethical code.
The letter, issued on the GONG civil society association's web site on Tuesday by the associations, including the Croatian P.E.N. centre, the Centre for Peace Studies, the BaBe women's rights association, calls on the relevant agencies in Croatia to protect media freedom and solve the current crisis in the management over the Croatian public broadcaster.
Gojan was served a warning about her possible dismissal on 4 May over her statements in an interview which she gave to the Slobodna Dalmacija daily in March. Maja Server received a notice of possible dismissal in late April after her show about stripping Father Ivan Grubisic, a member of parliament, of his priestly powers.
The NGO believe that it's high time for the replacement of the management that, they have pushed the Croatian Radio and Television in such a situation.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, also expressed her concern at a possibility for the Croatian national broadcaster (HRT) to "dismiss journalists critical of the media freedom situation in Croatia."
"It is more than alarming that the public service broadcaster is using this draconian practice in order to silence journalists," Mijatovic said in a press release which the Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) forwarded to the media on Tuesday.
