2006.01.13. – Journalist defies UN court with Internet publication

ZAGREB – A Croatian journalist
charged by the UN war crimes tribunal with contempt of court has
defied it by publishing the secret testimony of a protected witness
on the Internet, reports said on January 12. Domagoj Margetic put
out on his personal website what appeared to be testimony by Croatian
President Stipe Mesic during the 1997 trial of former Bosnian Croat
general Tihomir Blaskic, the Jutarnji List newspaper said. The audio
recording of the testimony was posted on the website late on Wednesday
but early Thursday the site was blocked by police order.

Last year the UN tribunal
in The Hague charged Margetic, a former journalist with the rightwing
Hrvatsko Slovo newspaper, four other Croatian journalists and the
country’s former intelligence chief with contempt of court for revealing
the identity of a witness during the trial. The witness was Mesic,
according to local media. "I reject the UN court ruling …
and I will continue to make public Mesic’s testimony," Margetic
had said accusing the president of "betraying Croatia"
by his statements in front of the court.