Croatia: Death threats against Nacional editorial staff condemned

Berislav Jelinić, Nacional’s editor-in-chief. Credit: Saša Zinaja/NFoto

“PEN International strongly condemns the death threats made by unknown individuals against the editorial staff of Croatian weekly newspaper Nacional. As we still mourn the 2008 assassinations of Nacional’s Ivo Pukanic and Niko Franjić, we urge the authorities to ensure these unacceptable threats do not go unpunished”, said Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

24 May 2024: The Croatian authorities must launch a prompt and thorough investigation into the death threats made against editorial staff at the weekly newspaper Nacional, PEN International and Croatian PEN said today. The journalists’ safety must be ensured, and perpetrators held to account.

On 20 May 2024, Berislav Jelinić, editor-in-chief of Nacional, a weekly newspaper based in Zagreb, received an anonymous message on his mobile phone, warning him that Nacional editorial staff would soon be under ‘explosives’, referring to Ivo Pukanic, former owner and editor of Nacional, and marketing executive Niko Franjić, who were killed in a car bomb in Zagreb on 23 October 2008. While six men were convicted and jailed over the murders, the masterminds have yet to be identified. The message also referred to the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The threat read: ‘We are waiting for the moment to catch as many of you together as possible so as not to waste explosives for just one garbageman. The vultures who survive will start writing the truth and only the truth, not lying, fabricating, and writing just to raise money. We are following you and more than two will be successful, so write your wills...’

The editorial staff of Nacional reported the threat to Davor Božinović, Croatia’s Interior Minister, and to the Police Department in Heinzelova Street in Zagreb. PEN International and Croatian fear Nacional staff are being targeted on account of their critical reporting, including on crime and corruption, and urge the authorities to take all the necessary steps to ensure their safety. The organisations reiterate their full solidarity with the journalists and will closely monitor the situation.

Note to Editors:

For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: Aurelia.dondo@pen-international.org