Stones thrown at TV crew covering ultranationalist celebration

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by a physical attack on reporter Ivonu Ramadzu and cameraman Kresimira Morica of national radio and TV station HRT on 5 August while they were covering celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of Operation Oluja, a major military victory for Croatia in the Yugoslav Wars. The TV crew went to the village of Čavoglave, the birthplace of controversial singer Marko “Thompson” Perković, where his ultranationalist admirers had gathered to celebrate the ideology of the Ustashis, a Croatian fascist movement responsible for the deaths of thousands of Croatian Serbs, Jews, Roma and Communists during the Second World War. “The HRT journalists were accosted, insulted, threatened and stoned for more than an hour without any person in authority intervening,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We have been told that Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić was present. Why didn’t he react? Why didn’t the event’s organisers step in? The police eventually arrived but made no arrests although more than 20 of these militant nationalists took part in the attack. This laxity on the part of the authorities is both outrageous and incomprehensible. “There has been no let-up in the violent behaviour by Croatian nationalist groups towards the media. The lack of resources alone cannot explain the fact that these attacks usually go unpunished. A country that legitimately aspires to join the European Union must show more determination when it comes to identifying and prosecuting those responsible for this kind of violence against the media, regardless of their political leanings.”