In his reply, Minister Picula emphasised that the motive of amendments was only to correct certain illogicalities in the past provisions that had no practical value.
As to the provision on the incrimination of slander, sanctions provided for by the Croatian Criminal Law are the mildest in comparison to those in some other developed European democracies.
Minister Picula advised Mr. Duve that these amendments included the abolition of Article 48 on criminal liability of editor-in-chief based on objective responsibility.
He added that the said motives, and the amendments
themselves, demonstrate the efforts of the Croatian Government to adopt
the best legal framework for the media, based on European values and
norms.