At the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb, on Monday, September 2, 2024, a hearing began in a criminal case in which private prosecutor Kazimir Bačić, a former long-time director general of HRT, is criminally prosecuting former vice presidents of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) Branko Mijić and Goran Gazdek for a criminal offense under Article 149, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code/11.
Bačić is suing Mijić and Gazdek as signatories of a statement from the Executive Board of the CJA from 2021 for the criminal offense of defamation, which was published on the CJA’s website on March 12, 2021. “Bačić’s persecution of the leaders of the CJA and the Journalists’ Union is a new blow to media freedom.”
After a thousand SLAPP lawsuits against individual journalists and entire editorial offices, aimed at silencing them through threats and exhausting legal processes, this is not “just” about the criminal prosecution of the two of us who signed the public response of the Executive Board of the CJA, but also about the entire professional organization. This lawsuit is, in fact, an attempt to disable the work of the Croatian Journalists’ Association and all of its legally elected bodies, such as the Executive Board, which would no longer be able to operate, make decisions, and publish them publicly. Therefore, we call on all colleagues from all media to follow this trial because it is not just about a private prosecutor, but about the intention to silence journalism as a profession and to strike at the CJA as the largest organization that brings together journalists in Croatia. We are confident that colleagues from all media will fill the courtroom when our private prosecutor Kazimir Bačić takes a seat in the defendant’s dock due to the charge of bribery of 50,000 euros, which he gave to Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić. We believe that after this, the public will be able to judge who is the “axis of evil” in this society and who stands on the side of truth, commented Mijić and Gazdek.
The former vice presidents of the CJA are defended by attorneys Vanja Jurić and Viktoria Smirnov.
The proceedings against Mijić and Gazdek will continue at the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb on October 21, 2024, at 9 a.m., when Mislav Stipić will testify on behalf of the prosecution.
“This is not ‘just’ about the criminal prosecution of the two of us who signed the public response of the Executive Board of the CJA, but also about the entire professional organization. This lawsuit attempts to disable the work of the CJA,” said Mijić and Gazdek.