Croatian Journalists’ Association Alleges Assassination Attempt on its President

Sasa Lekovic, president of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND), noticed that his car was damaged while driving on 27 October 2016. The auto mechanic told Lekovic that “two screws on the front right wheel were damaged with a saw”. Had he not slowed down and stopped the car, the screws would have broken, states HND on its website.

HND’s executive board published a response, characterising the incident as an assassination attempt.

In the response, the HND executive board related to the constant verbal attacks and threats (including death threats by various online media users featured in user comments) that Lekovic has been exposed to since he assumed the position of the HND president a year and a half ago, as well as to the recent threatening letters against the association and Lekovic.

“For that reason, we demand a prompt reaction from the institutions in all cases of threats to journalists….Due to the importance of this issue, we also demand that the members of the Parliament promptly state their opinions on it”, the response reads.

HND stated its deep concern with the fact that not a single case of threats to journalists has been solved in Croatia. It is also worried because the number of insults that involve hate speech, as well that of direct threats to journalists, has increased in recent days, reads the HND response.