An upcoming bill proposed by the ruling HDZ party that seeks to amend the penal code to introduce jail time of up to three years for leaks from court investigations was criticised by opposition MPs from the Možemo! Party on Sunday, who argued that the new bill allows for wiretapping.
“Although the bill includes an exception for journalists, investigating such offences requires evidence – which means it allows for wiretapping, and also for any mobile phones or computers to be confiscated [by investigators],” MP Ursa Raukar-Gamulin said in a press event, as reported by Hina.
The bill is expected to be passed in parliament’s new session which starts on Monday, by the ruling majority led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s HDZ. It will introduce criminal responsibility to anyone leaking confidential investigation information to the press – although its provisions will not apply to media outlets themselves.
It comes after a slew of major and minor scandals and corruption investigations implicating HDZ party members, with local media putting the tally of cabinet resignations and sackings to more than 30 since Plenkovic came into office in 2016.
“There are people in the system who refuse to be silent about cover-ups in the course of [corruption] investigations, and they report them to the media in the public interest,” Raukar-Gamulin added.
The bill also comes ahead of an upcoming parliamentary election this year, although the exact date for the poll hasn’t been determined yet, and Plenkovic has a large window to set the date for the poll. According to local media speculations, the most likely dates are either in April-May or September this year.
The small green-left party Možemo! (“We Can!”) currently has only four MPs in the 151-seat parliament. According to the latest polls published by Nova TV in December, they are currently fifth, at 6.8% of the vote. The ruling HDZ (EPP) seems to have an unassailable lead with 28.2%, followed by the Social Democrat SDP party (S&D) at 12.9%.
“We don’t have the majority in parliament, so we cannot stop this bill from getting passed,” said party leader Sandra Bencic, adding that the bill violates “rights and standards which we had achieved by joining the European Union,” and urging media outlets and civil society to vocally oppose the bill.
The National Association of Journalists HND also slammed the bill on Friday (12 January), with its leader Hrvoje Zovko saying that the bill has “dangerous intentions” and that the move amounts to “a blow to both journalism as a profession and public interest,” as it is thought that the law will probably make insider sources afraid of talking to the press.
(David Spaic-Kovacic | Euractiv.hr)
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Source: euractiv.com
