The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), joins the Croatian Journalists ´Association (HND) in demanding that Croatia´s public prosecutor investigate death threats allegedly made by top military officials against Croatian journalist Drago Hedl.
Hedl, who works for the Zagreb-daily Jutarnji List, has been writing about war crimes for the past twenty years. Initially, he wrote about the war crimes committed during the wars in former Yugoslavia (1991-1995). Currently, he monitors war crimes trials. As SEEMO has reported, Hedl has been threatened on numerous occasions.
According to information published in Jutarnji List on 13 July 2011, the latest threat occurred in 2010 when top Croatian generals allegedly discussed Hedl´s liquidation. According to the same source, a detained Croatian general admitted this in July 2011. Military officials were dissatisfied with Hedl’s coverage of the war crimes trial in Bjelovar (Croatia).
“I urge the Public Prosecutor to investigate the alleged death threats against Drago Hedl,” demanded Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General. “It is unacceptable that in a country that will soon join the European Union, military officials can send death threats to journalists who investigate war crimes.”