The Communications Regulatory Agency (hereinafter: the Agency) hereby expresses its reaction to the media reports which report on the contents of the NGO “Croatia Libertas” press release. Namely, the NGO “Croatia Libertas” has presented information in their press release which is both partial and incorrect with the aim of undermining the credibility of the Agency and misinforming the public by abusing the media space.

In order to correctly inform the public and the media who have conveyed this information without verifying the allegations with the Agency, we wish to clarify the following:

The NGO “Croatia Libertas” press release does not include the names of the programs, nor the dates nor any other information that could be used as grounds for ascertaining the claims. There are only allegations that the Agency tolerates among other things, for “the Serbs and Croats to be called Chetniks and Ustashas.”

Taking an insight into a number of complaints that Leo Pločkinić has filed to the Agency on his behalf and on behalf of “Croatia Libertas,” it was established that only one of the complaints relate to the program in which he was entitled “a declared Ustasha.” This was the case of a report in the political TV-show “60 minuta” (60 Minutes) broadcasted on November 30, 2009 where Leo Pločkinić was just casually mentioned. The Agency has concluded that the disputed report did not breach the Radio and Television Broadcasting Code and Leo Pločkinić was instructed to seek the protection of personal interests with the relevant court.

Furthermore, the Agency’s reply includes the following statements: “In their programs, the TV stations are entitled to deal with and research the topics of interest for the public, which is withal media’s- notably the public service- responsibility and an obligation in a democratic society. The Agency is not mandated to influence the choice of topics and their presentation since these segments are exclusively in the domain of the TV station and the Agency can only  react  in case the broadcasted program has breached the relevant rules and regulations. Moreover, the pluralistic democracy and the freedom of political debate require for the public to be informed on the issues of general importance thus implying the right of the media to present negative information and critical views on public persons as well as the right of the public to be informed on them. In this view, we specifically underline that the provisions of the rules and regulations applied by the regulator in the context of a conditional function of the protection of personal interest can once again be viewed only in the light of the protection of general interest taking into consideration that the Agency does not directly decide on the protection of personal interests of an individual as this issues falls under the scope of responsibility of the relevant courts resulting in the Agency deciding not to take them into consideration”. 

Finally, we would like to clarify that Leo Pločkinić has already filed libel charges with regards to the disputed report and has lost the case which was not mentioned in the press release but on the contrary it reads that he is threatening to file charges.

-The end-

16.03.2011.

For further information, please contact: Amela Odobašić, phone: 033 250 600 or info@rak.ba