COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE

13 mai 2009

Croatie

Les poursuites juridiques à l’encontre de Zeljko Peratovic toujours infondées

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Activists from the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, Robert Menard, left, Vincent Brossel, center, and Jean-Francois Julliard, right

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Reporters sans frontières dénonce le maintien des poursuites ouvertes le 14 janvier 2008 à l’encontre du journaliste Zeljko Peratovic, à la demande du ministre de l’Intérieur Tomislav Karamarko, qui l’accuse d’avoir contrevenu à l’article 322/1 KZA du code pénal prescrivant une peine de prison d’un an et des amendes « pour toute personne qui diffuserait des informations de nature à inquiéter la population ».

Le ministre de l’Intérieur avait déjà été auditionné une première fois à l’issue de quoi il s’était avéré incapable d’apporter la preuve que les éléments juridiques du délit étaient réunis. En convoquant le 11 mai 2009 Tomislav Karamarko pour une seconde audition, la juge lui donnait une nouvelle occasion de défendre sa position à l’aide de témoins membres de son entourage proche. En vain.

« Il est désormais plus que temps de clôturer ce dossier qui ne repose sur aucun fondement. Les poursuites établies sur la base de l’article 322/1 sont inconsistantes et irrecevables. La notion ‘’d’information de nature à inquiéter la population’’ constitue une vision obsolète de la liberté d’expression », a déclaré Reporters sans frontières.

« Malgré l’opportunité ouverte par cette seconde audition, le ministre n’a manifestement toujours pas les moyens de prouver le bien-fondé de ses accusations. Les liens de Tomislav Karamarko avec les témoins cités résument bien toute la partialité des poursuites engagées. Le public « inquiété par les informations publiées » par Zeljko Peratovic peut-il être raisonnablement réduit à cinq personnes, membres de la famille du ministre ou anciens collaborateurs du service des renseignements qu’il dirigeait auparavant? », a ajouté l’organisation.

« Nous demandons aux autorités judiciaires en charge du dossier d’annuler toutes les poursuites ouvertes à l’encontre de Zeljko Peratovic », a conclu Jean-François Julliard, secrétaire général de Reporters sans frontières.

Sur ses blogs (peratovic.net et peratovic.blog.hr), Zeljko Peratovic a dénoncé l’obstruction pratiquée par Tomislav Karamarko dans l’enquête sur la mort de Milan Levar, un témoin protégé du Tribunal pénal international pour l’ex-Yougoslavie (TPIY) décédé dans l’explosion de sa voiture, le 28 août 2000 à Gospic.

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PRESS RELEASE

13 may 2009

Croatia

Interior minister fails again to support charges against journalist

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Reporters Without Borders condemns a court decision to continue investigating the charge of “disseminating information likely to upset the population” under article 322/1 of the criminal code that was brought against journalist Zeljko Peratovic in January at the behest at interior minister Tomislav Karamarko. It carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison as well as a possible fine.

Karamarko initiated the case against Peratovic because of allegations he made in two blogs, peratovic.net and peratovic.blog.hr, accusing Karamarko of obstructing the investigation into the death of Milan Levar, a witness under the protection of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who was killed by a car bomb in Gospic in August 2000.

Karamarko failed to produce any legally sound evidence against Peratovic when he was initially questioned in court. A second hearing was held in the case on 11 May at which the minister was given another chance. He brought several aides and close associates along to testify but he again failed to support the charge.

“It is high time to close this case, which has no foundation,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The charges under article 322/1 are inconsistent and should be dismissed. The very concept of ‘information likely to upset the population’ is based on an obsolete idea of free expression.

“Despite being given another opportunity at this second hearing, the interior minister still clearly lacks the means to support his allegations. His ties to those who were summoned to testify highlight the lack of impartiality in this case. Is the population that is supposedly ‘upset’ by Peratovic’s information limited to these five people, all relatives of the minister or members of the intelligence agency he used to head?”

Reporters Without Borders added: “We urge the judicial authorities in charge of this case to dismiss all the charges against Peratovic.”

Judicial harassment of war crimes reporter continues

Croatia, 15. 01. 2009

Reporters Without Borders condemns the charge that was brought yesterday at the behest at interior minister Tomislav Karamarko against a journalist who writes about war crimes in the 1990s. Zeljko Peratovic is accused of “disseminating information likely to upset the population” under article 322/1 KZA of the criminal code, which carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison as well as a possible fine.

In blog entries (peratovic.net and peratovic.blog.hr), letters to national judicial officials and a series of public statements, Peratovic has accused the interior minister of obstructing the investigation into the death of Milan Levar, a witness under the protection of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who was killed by a car bomb in the southeastern village of Gospic in August 2000.

Peratovic was questioned as a witness in the course of the investigation because he was one of the last people to see Levar alive. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation subsequently identified Peratovic as a witness, in violation of judicial confidentiality.

“Interior minister Karamarko portrays himself as the victim of defamation and claims that I want to upset the population, but he is pursuing a different objective” Peratovic said. “As well as fining me, the court could above all decide to ban me from disseminating information for an indefinite period. That would prevent be from undertaking any kind of journalistic activity, on my blog or in other media.”

Peratovic added : “It would also prevent me from continuing my effort to discover who was behind Milan Levar’s murder. Some people are counting on the statute of limitations eventually applying to this case. Silencing me could be a way of achieving this.”

Reporters Without Borders said : “It seems that press investigations into war crimes are not welcome at a time when Croatia is trying to join the European Union. The interior minister should be trying to help the investigation into a protected witness’s murder rather than attacking those who refuse to let war crimes be forgotten and go unpunished.”

“The prosecution being brought against Peratovic under article 322/1 is ridiculous and unacceptable,” the press freedom organisation continued. “The crime of ‘information likely to upset the population’ reflects on obsolete view of freedom of expression that is incompatible with the European democratic standards that Croatia will have to conform to if it wants to join the EU.”

Reporters Without Borders added : “If the prosecution of Peratovic goes ahead, we insist that whenever any of the parties are questioned in court, it no longer takes place behind closed doors.”

Zeljko Peratovic, who received death threats in 2008 in the form of comments added to his blog, was arrested at his home on 17 October 2007 on a charge of revealing state secret for posting documents on his blog relating to war crimes in Gospic in the 1990s, and for referring to the existence of a video of witness accusing former defence minister Gojko Susak (now deceased) and a parliamentary deputy president (Darko Milinovic, now croatian minister of th health and new vice president of HDZ, op. 45 lines) of involvement.

Aged 42, he faced a possible three-year prison sentence. In the event, the prosecution was not pursued but the charges have not been withdrawn and the files confiscated by the police have still not been returned to him.

Peratovic has worked for various newspapers, the latest of which is Vjesnik. His investigations into war crimes have earned him a lot of trouble. He has been fired, he has been physically attacked and he is regarded as a traitor by many of his compatriots, who refuse outright to consider the possibility that Croatians may have committed war crimes.

He received the received the press freedom prize of the Reporters Without Borders Austrian section in 2003.

RSF, Publié le 15 janvier 2009

– Zeljko Peratovic, journaliste croate indépendant, persécuté par les autorités croates en raison de ses investigations sur les crimes de guerre et les liens entre le crime organisé, le milieu politique et les structures de renseignements a reçu, aujourd’hui dimanche 14 juin 2009, une convocation de la police de Zagreb, commissariat n°7, d’avoir à se présenter le 16 juin 2009 à 12.30 auprès des services sociaux pour des prétendus faits de “comportement indécent envers sa fille” âgée de 5 ans et demi, également convoquée. Cette convocation fait suite à une dénonciation anonyme, moyen couramment utilisé dans les anciens pays communises pour placer des accusations montées de toutes pièces. Au delà des persécutions policières et judiciaires qu’elles infligent au journaliste indépendant depuis des années, les autorités croates s’en prennent aujourd’hui à sa famille et pire, à son enfant. Ces accusations infondées relèvent de la plus abjecte manipulation et visent à isoler encore plus le journaliste, à le placer au ban de la société et à détruire sa famille.

Karamarko (ministre de l’Intérieur) et Mesic (Président de la République) n’en sont pas à leur coup d’essai : après avoir interné de force à l’asile psychiatrique de Zagreb tant l’avocate Ana Jendris-Jelesic (lui faisant croire que son fils avait été liquidé) que Mirjana Pukanic, après avoir menacé de m’y interner en raison du dossier Tomulic et après s’en être pris à la fille de Mirjana Pukanic au moyen du même centre d’aide sociale, ces derniers appliquent les mêmes méthodes pour s’en prendre à Zeljko Peratovic et sa famille.

Au delà, ces accusations constituent clairement une menace dirigée contre la fille du journaliste dans un pays où encore très récemment était froidement abattue la fille d’un avocat “ciblé” afin de faire pression sur lui. En s’en prenant à la fille de Zeljko Peratovic, en basant de nouvelles pressions sur l’enfant de la personne “ciblée”, les autorités croates montrant qu’elles utilisent les mêmes méthodes que les assassins d’Ivana Hodak et font officiellement peser sur Zeljko Peratovic et sa famille les plus grandes inquiétudes pour leur sécurité et leur intégrité physique.

Blog de l’avocat Ivan JURASINOVIC, le 15/06/09 – 00:23

Kroatischer Journalist Zeljko Peratovic von Innenminister verklagt

Der kroatische Journalist Zeljko Peratovic, bekannt für seine Berichte über Kriegsverbrechen im ehemaligen Jugoslawien während der 1990er Jahre, ist vom kroatischen Innenminister Tomislav Karamarko angeklagt worden. Er wird beschuldigt, Informationen veröffentlicht zu haben, die “zu Aufregung in der Bevölkerung” führen könnte, so die Anklage, die sich nach Artikel 322/1 KZA des Strafgesetzes richtet und maximal ein Jahr Gefängnis sowie eine mögliche Geldstrafe beinhaltet.

Peratovic hatte in seinen Blogeinträgen (peratovic.net und peratovic.blog.hr) Briefe an nationale Justizbeamte sowie eine Reihe von öffentlichen Statements publiziert. Er beschuldigte darin den Innenminister, die Untersuchungen zum Tod des Zeugen vor dem Internationalen Tribunal für Kriegsverbrecher im ehemaligen Jugoslawien, Milan Levar, zu behindern. Levar wurde im Jahr 2000 Opfer eines Autobombenattentats.

Peratovic, einer der letzten, die Levar lebend gesehen hatten, wurde als Zeuge in Ermittlungen um den Anschlag befragt. Der Journalist vermutet eine bestimmte Absicht hinter Karamarkos Anklage gegen ihn: “das Gericht könnte auch, statt einer Geldstrafe, ein Verbot für mich in der Verbreitung von Informationen durchsetzen. Das würde verhindern, dass ich jede Art von Journalistischer Tätigkeit ausüben könnte, sei es auf meinem Blog oder in anderen Medien.” Damit sei auch seinem Bemühen, den Fall Milan Levar aufzuklären, ein Ende gesetzt.

Reporter ohne Grenzen verurteilt die Anklage gegen Peratovic. “Es scheint, als ob das Einmischen der Medien in Kriegsverbrecherprozesse nicht willkommen ist zu einer Zeit, in der Kroatien um den Beitritt in die Europäische Union bemüht ist, so Rubina Möhring.”Der Innenminister sollte engagiert sein, die Untersuchungen um den Mord an einem geschützten Zeugen zu unterstützen statt diejenigen zu attackieren, die sich weigern, Kriegsverbrechen zu vergessen und unbestraft zu lassen”, führt sie fort.

Die Bestrafung unter Artikel 322/1 sei lächerlich und nicht akzeptabel, so die Organisation: “Das Verbrechen, Informationen zu verbreiten, die die Öffentlichkeit aufregen könnten, zeugt von einer obsoleten Ansicht über freie Meinungsäußerung, die völlig inkompatibel ist mit den demokratischen Standards der EU.”Diesen muss sich Kroatien aber anpassen, wenn es der EU beitreten will.”

“Wenn die Anklage gegen Peratovic länger andauert werden wir dafür sorgen, dass jede Anhörung vor Gericht bei offenen Türen stattfindet,” so die Organisation.

Zeljko Peratovic, der 2008 Todesdrohungen bekommen hatte, wurde schon 2007 verhaftet,unter anderem  weil er Staatsgeheimnisse über Kriegsverbrechen in den 1990ern auf seinem Blog veröffenlicht hatte.  Er arbeitete für verschiedene Zeitungen, zuletzt für “Vjesnik“. 2003 bekam er von Reporter ohne Grenzen Österreich den Press Freedom Award.

ROG, 19.01.09 12:19

Legal lack of rights more dangerous than the illegal one

The situation is much more dangerous than I anticipated: some entirely impermissible actions in Croatia are not illegal but completely legal.

Violation of human and professional rights caused by the breach of law is definitely dangerous. However, the system has in-built mechanisms that are used to resist that and prosecute perpetrators. Violation of human and professional rights that is in accordance with the law is much more dangerous since it is an indicator that the system has in-built mechanisms that are favourable to such behaviour. It is similar to Stalin’s Soviet Union which had one of the most liberal constitutions in the world but, according to it, it was not illegal to put people, mostly communists, into concentration camps nor was it against the law to lock people up, primarily smarter ones, in mental hospitals.

Peratović case: Council for Civil Supervision of Security –Intelligence agencies held the opinion that, pursuant to Article 113 of the Act on Security and Intelligence system of the Republic of Croatia, it is entirely legal to detain and harass a citizen who is in this case a journalist. It is also legal to seize his work tools, such as computers with saved archives, and keep them for a longer period, suspect him of revealing state and military secrets without any foundation, and, in accordance with the above mentioned, it is utterly unfounded to doubt that his basic human and professional rights were violated by the above described procedures.  Consequently, working independently and keeping your own archive and using it in Croatia is not regarded as basic human and professional rights if civil servants do not like what you do or how you do it. 

Violation of  human and professional rights that is in accordance with the law is very dangerous since it is an indicator that the system has in-built mechanisms that are favourable to such a behaviour

 

The matter in case is the petition of Željko Peratović, an investigative journalist, which he submitted to the Council for Civil Supervision of Security –Intelligence agencies and the parliamentary Board for Internal Politics and National Security. In the petition, he asked for the protection of his human and professional rights. However, the petition, as we have seen, was rejected. 

As Freedom House reported, Peratović’s detention, together with breaking into Gordan Malić’s apartment and death threats directed at Robert Valdec, was mentioned as the reason why Croatia was placed at the 78th place of the world chart of media freedom. It should be also mentioned that the Croatian journalists’ association supported its member’s petition. The HND say that from the alleged SOA document which was released follows that the SOA was incriminating Peratović for his writing. 

Željko Peratović was professionally investigating the murder of Milan Levar, a witness to war crimes, and the obstruction of the investigation of Levar’s murderers for which he suspected the members of security-intelligence system.

Moreover, the non-denied analysis conducted by the SOA which dealt with Peratović’s work was released and it confirmed that the SOA “was decreasing damage” by infiltrating into the media space, making comments on blogs and other Internet pages.  

Naturally, it would not be for the first time that some state secret service was spreading (mis)information – it is also happening in Italy where the military espionage had a special department whose purpose was to misinform and slander – but that certainly is not the purpose for which citizens finance the service. In a decent world, it would be a shame and not the reason for earning salary and deserving a medal.

Pukanić case: The police, its internal control and one parliamentary board found that there was nothing illegal in preventing a citizen from informing journalists about something by using force, including handcuffs. The same citizen was then taken to a psychiatric hospital, where she does not belong in terms of the place of residence. The usual doctor’s procedure or any medical basis (as it was established by the follow-up specialist check-up) were lacking. The citizen was kept there under coercion for days.

This is naturally the case of Mirjana Pukanić.

The question is what her destiny would be like if the Croatian Helsinki Committee, a non-government organization, did not get involved. Unlike it, state authorities, as we have heard, were acting in accordance with the law.

The freedom of media is naturally the main goal of those legal but impermissible procedures but it is not the main victim. What is more endangered is civil freedom itself. If we are to believe the authorities that say that the law in Croatia enables and justifies pressures and threats to freedom that Željko Peratović and Mirjana Pukanić suffered – then it means that any of you, ladies and gentlemen, who voted for those who passed such laws and who pay taxes in order to finance all of that, can legally find himself in the same situation.

Inoslav Bešker, RIMOVANJE, Jutarnji.hr, 14 May 2008

Karamarko sues journalist Peratović for accusations of protecting his friend’s killers

Tomislav Karamarko, the Croatian Minister of Internal Affairs, filed a suit against two independent Internet journalists- Željko Peratović and Domagoj Margetić. According to Veljko Miljević, Karamarko’s lawyer, the suit was filed for spreading disturbing and false contents. 

Karamarko filed his first suit at the Municipal Criminal Court in June when he was the head of the Security Intelligence Agency. Yet, the General Attorney’s Office considered that at that moment there were no grounds for criminal prosecution. At the beginning of December, his lawyer made an addition to the suit and put everything into motion once again. Miljević explains that he did not want to file a private suit against Peratović (authorities will prosecute him, author’s comment) because it is not only Karamarko whose dignity has been damaged but people close to him as well since he fills the post of minister at the moment.

“Karamarko, protector of this and that”

When asked to name at least two examples explaining why Karamarko decided to insist upon the suit, despite the atmosphere caused by the police prosecution of a Facebooker, Miljević says:

 ”As a man, Karamarko feels most hurt by Peratović claiming that he has covered up Milan Levar’s murderer. He says that his daughter asked him one day what murderers he was protecting», says Miljević. «Secondly, there are all sorts of articles on his blog – ‘Stjepan Mesić, the President of the Republic, this’, ‘State General Attorney Mladen Bajić that’, ‘the head of SOA, Tomislav Karamarko, protector of this and that’», enumerates Miljević.

He also added that it was not only the question of the Internet but he repeated the same on television, radio and printed media. Moreover, he claimed that Karamarko would not insist on the suit if the articles were not on the Internet for a longer period of time. 

For heaven’s sake, who killed Milan Levar?

Milan Levar was Peratović’s friend and the witness to war crimes in Gospić. He was also involved in the investigation regarding “Medački džep ‘93″, about which he was supposed to testify in The Hague. Levar claimed that Croatian secret service agencies had the right data and evidence of crimes. Levar pointed to general Mirko Norac and Tihomir Orešković, the secretary of the Lika Crisis Headquarters, as the chief suspects.  

Domagoj Margetić and Karamarko’s lawyer Veljko Miljević

They were convicted but lead an easy life in prison – every now and then, Orešković’s serve time is suspended, while Norac managed to meet the love of his life, conceive a child and get married at the same time while serving a sentence for the killings of Serbs. Following Levar’s murder in 2000, media reported how Josip Manolić, who coordinated the work of Croatian secret service agencies at the time of those unfortunate events in Gospić, when asked to say who killed Levar, answered:

“Well, those he named war criminals! At least, that is clear!”

Thus, a former secret agent indirectly pointed to this duo. It is important to mention that Karamarko is not the only (now former, author’s comment) head of the intelligence agency that Peratović has been in conflict with since his friend was murdered.

Secret service raided “paranoid” Peratović’s apartment

Murderers have remained unknown until today. For years, Peratović has been unable to find a job in «proper» media because, in journalists’ circles, he is perceived as a paranoiac obsessed by secret services. He was not present in the media until he was arrested for revealing a military secret on the blog. His entire documentation and all computers in the apartment were seized.

The search was requested on the basis of notes from the Security Intelligence Agency (SOA) official letter, the office of the director Tomislav Karamarko from 17 September 2007. The search warrant, as said in the statement of reasons, was issued at the request of the Zagreb Police Department dated 16 October this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes from 7 February, computer excerpts from Peratović’s blog.

Ana Benačić, Index.hr, 15.12.2008

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