The Croatian Journalists Association has warned that 16 months have passed since the tragic death of reporter Vladimir Matijanic and six months since the competent prosecutor's office finished the inquiry in the case, yet there is still no decision on the circumstances of his death and accountability.

“For us at the HND it has been clear from the beginning that there is a culprit. That culprit must answer. We will never give up on the fight for the truth and for the punishment of those responsible for Vladimir Matijanic’s tragic death,” Croatian Journalists Association (HND) president Hrvoje Zovko said at a news conference outside the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH) in Zagreb on Wednesday.

Zovko described as scandalous the findings of the Health Ministry commission that had investigated Matijanic’s death and statements made so far by Health Minister Vili Beros, as well as the statement by the Split Municipal Prosecutor’s Office on a decision on whether criminal proceedings would be launched in the case.

“This is a big pretence that we will not tolerate,” he said, tearing up a piece of paper with the prosecutors’ statement, and in a message to the Chief State Prosecutor and those involved in the investigation, he said that “they act as if they did not want to do their job.”

Matijanic was killed by the system and the HND will not accept the allegation that it was an accident, Zovko said, noting that the HND would not accept “someone at the end of the chain of responsibility to be punished just for the sake of punishment”, given that there were politically appointed officials at the Split General Hospital responsible for the case.

Ilko Cimic, a reporter for the Index news site where Matijanic worked, said that DORH had all the witness statements and findings of the commission of inquiry back in October 2022, but that a decision was made that only one expert opinion was insufficient, which was why additional expert opinions were requested.

Those additional expert opinions were ready at the beginning of this year and with that, the case was actually completed, Cimic said.

“A decision as to whether criminal proceedings should be launched or not should have been made already then,” he said, adding that in June this year he was told by DORH that a final decision on the case was pending. However, six months have passed since, and there is still no decision, he said.

The reporter said that last week he obtained information that due to procrastination, an internal inspection was launched at the Split Municipal Prosecutor’s Office.

Instead of giving an answer to queries in that regard, DORH said on Tuesday that a decision on the Matijanic case had been made, Cimic said, adding that neither the person who filed the criminal complaint nor Matijanic’s family had received it.

“The first step in changing the system is for the system to admit its mistake,” he said.

Matijanic died in Split on 5 August 2022 from severe complications caused by the COVID-19 infection. After numerous complaints of malpractice and possible denial of appropriate medical assistance, the Health Ministry commission concluded that no significant professional omissions had been made in his treatment.

The HND organised a protest on 5 February this year, calling for the replacement of Minister Beros and warning that nobody had yet been called to account for the reporter’s death.