JURIST - Paper Chase: ICTY orders interrogation of Croatian journalists on contempt suspicions

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website; JURIST news archive] Wednesday ordered eight Croatian journalists to be questioned about possible contempt of court violations for revealing confidential information. Three national television journalists and five newspaper writers will be investigated for revealing confidential portions of indictments against former generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac [case backgrounders, PDF]. The journalists will be questioned by a Zagreb court before the ICTY will decided if it will file charges. AFP has more.

In February, the ICTY sentenced Croatian freelance journalist Domagoj Margetic [JURIST report] to three months in jail and a 10,000 Euro fine for contempt of court; Margetic had published the names of two witnesses that were under a protective court order on his website. In August 2006, Croatian journalist Josip Jovic was fined [JURIST report] 20,000 Euros for publishing transcripts of a closed court session and revealing the identity of a witness, current Croatian President Stipe Mesic [official profile], who testified in the Tihomir Blaskic case [ICTY case backgrounder].

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