Opposition MPs said on Wednesday that the Council of Europe (CoE) had also recognised the dangers of the "Lex AP" for media freedom in Croatia. Members of the ruling HDZ party countered that most members of the Council of Europe have similar or even stricter laws.

In its annual report on media freedom, the CoE criticised that the “Lex AP”, if adopted, would “oblige journalists to register; prohibit journalists from criticising the work of courts and prosecutors; oblige journalists to reveal their sources to their editor-in-chief upon request; introduce a right to compensation for people whose names are published in the media if the information was obtained ‘illegally’,’ said Social Democrats MP Vesna Nadj.

Nadj was referring to the amendments to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Act and the Act on the Protection Against Domestic Abuse, which are being discussed in parliament at second reading.

“Gravedigger of independent journalism in Croatia”

The most controversial article for the opposition is the one on the punishment of unauthorised disclosure of the content of evidence or investigations. Several parliamentary groups have therefore warned against preventing journalists from publishing corruption cases.

“The final law will be the gravedigger of independent journalism in Croatia. The grave has already been dug and now we are just waiting for the HDZ and its coalition partners to vote on the law,” said Nadj.

“The European Union is neither stupid nor blind if it does not recognise the extent of crime and corruption in Croatia, which is now being covered up before the elections with the ‘Lex AP’ and the appointment of Ivan Turudic as the State Attorney-General,” said MP Natalija Martincevic from the Fokus/Reformist parliamentary group.

Misel Jaksic (SDP party) also warned about the Council of Europe’s criticism of the “Lex AP” and the working conditions of journalists in Croatia.

“The study shows a particularly worrying situation in Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania, where journalists do not have the status of employees and often do not enjoy adequate social protection. The study was not written by Pedja Grbin or the SDP, but by the Council of Europe,” he said.

Even though the law does not penalise journalists or those who publish information in the public interest, Ursa Raukar Gamulin (Mozemo party) still considers the law “dangerous”

90% of the scandals were uncovered by journalists

“Basically nothing has changed, it is still possible to interrogate journalists and confiscate their mobile phones and computers. Journalists are still exposed to possible repression,” she said.

SDP leader Pedja Grbin pointed out that if the law had already been passed, the police would now be investigating and harassing the journalists who uncovered the corruption scandal in the Ministry of Culture and the correspondence between future State Attorney-General Ivan Turudic and former State Secretary Josipa Rimac when they were under investigation.

“God only knows how long it would take to establish the public interest that you have included (in the bill) to try to distance yourself from what you are proposing with this unfortunate bill,” he said.

HDZ MP Majda Buric replied to Grbin that he was desperately spreading lies and fabrications, adding that “thirty countries in the Council of Europe have similar or stricter laws than what we have before us”

Krunoslav Katicic (HDZ party) affirmed that the draft law moves Croatia towards Western European law. The Council of Europe’s report does not refer to specific laws on the parliament’s agenda, but to the general state of journalism in Croatia, he said.

“The HDZ wants the State Attorney-General to be independent and to make decisions based on legally collected evidence and not on media reports,” said Katicic.

With this draft law, Croatia is sliding towards autocracy, said Marijan Pavlicek from the Croatian Sovereignists.

“The problem is that Croatia is a deeply corrupt country and the state institutions have been hijacked, but 90% of the scandals were uncovered by journalists. Had it not been for the media, many of them would have been shelved by the prosecutor’s office, which is under your control,” Pavlicek told MPs from the HDZ party.