Josip Bohutinski, a reporter who works for Vecernji List daily and who was questioned on Thursday as a witness by the anti-corruption agency USKOK in connection with the publishing in the media of a secret statement on party slush funds, told press that USKOK's summoning reporters for questioning constituted political pressure on the media.
"This is aimed at diverting public attention from the content of the published information to the source of the information," said Bohutinski.
He added that he was surprised by how fast he was called in for questioning after Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Wednesday stated that she would try to find out what was going on and who was possibly giving statements which in the current stage of investigation should not be available to the public.
This, Bohutinski believes, is proof that the Croatian judiciary is not independent.
The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) said on Wednesday it was continuing with inquiries into the publication of confidential depositions in the media, because information from confidential investigations continue to appear in the media despite an investigation launched to find the perpetrators.
USKOK said it would interview all persons who claim to have received "from sources close to the investigation" copies of those depositions, in order to collect information and facts necessary for pressing charges for the leaking of information from investigations.
