Vienna, 17/11/2017
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was relieved to learn that criminal charges have been made against two police officers who attacked journalist Dusan Miljus (Dušan Miljuš) in Split, Croatia.
Miljus, a journalist of the news portal Index.hr, was reporting about a man making suicide threats at a beach in Split on 10 October, when he was approached by two police officers who verbally attacked him. Soon after, one of them forcibly took his mobile phone and threw it into the sea.
The police officially filed charges against the two perpetrators, who were removed from their positions days after the incident.
SEEMO supports this decision and asks for proper penalties for the two attackers. Steps must be taken in order to assure the safety of all journalists, as well as having their personhood respected. SEEMO also reminds authorities in Croatia that they must deal with other unresolved and dismissed cases of hate speech, threats and attacks against journalists.
SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe and its press freedom work is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.