On 4 September 2024, Jurica Gašpar, founder and editor-in-chief of the news portal Morski.hr (https://www.morski.hr/), received multiple death threats via WhatsApp and Facebook. The Morski.hrportal is specialized in maritime reporting.
These threats were allegedly in response to his critical reporting on maritime issues. The threats ranged from derogatory comments to explicit messages of physical harm. One allegedly WhatsApp message read: “Shame on you, scumbags, especially Gašpar… you attacked us, and we are the biggest ambassadors of Croatia. I’m done with you… suckers.” According to Gašpar, the same individual, whose identity was visible in the messages, attempted to harass the newsroom with numerous phone calls, which were ignored. On Facebook, two other threatening messages implied physical violence and death.
Due to the severity of these threats, Gašpar and his team were forced to seek refuge in a safe location. The Morski.hr editorial team issued a public statement, urging authorities to ensure the safety of their journalists and bring those responsible to justice. This situation escalated after the portal reported on 1 September 2024 that an association had arranged a meeting with a public relations agency to counteract negative coverage of Morski.hr. During this meeting allegedly ship owners discussed cooperation in order to promote them in certain media and “marginalize” Morski.hr and its “negative coverage”. After the meeting threats started, with a message in a WhatsApp group, in which it was proposed to collect money for someone who will kidnap Gašpar “in the trunk”. At least ten people allegedly joined the initiative.
A leaked allegedly recording from the forwarders’ meeting revealed that a PR professional with alleged political connections had planned to use their influence to promote a favorable image of the shipping industry while undermining Morski.hr’s credibility. This revelation underscores the ongoing challenges faced by independent journalism in Croatia, where media freedom is increasingly threatened by vested interests.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the death threats made against Jurica Gašpar, the editor-in-chief of Morski.hr, and stands in solidarity with all journalists facing intimidation for their work in Croatia. SEEMO calls on the relevant authorities to investigate these threats with the utmost seriousness and to ensure the safety of Gašpar and his colleagues. SEEMO will be closely monitoring this situation and will continue to advocate for press freedom and the protection of journalists across the region.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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