Regarding the article "Old Sculptor's Daughter", in which art historian Zvonko Makovic explains why Marica Mestrovic is incompetent to head the Mestrovic Foundation, the author of the article, Zvonko Makovic, was acquitted of the charges during the trial, while his article was confirmed as a legitimate mode of public criticism. Nevertheless, because of the same article, and on same charges, the court in the case dealing with the so-called spiritual anguish fined the publisher with a draconian fine. That situation, nonsensical in itself, testifies about total chaos in the Croatian judiciary, but also about the fact that the so-called justice is not at issue here. Rather, the motivation behind this verdict is to financially strangle a disobedient news magazine.
The case of the article "Piano for Aryan Croatia" is even more drastic, because the author Viktor Ivancic exposed to criticism anti-Semitic and pro-fascist views of Zeljko Olujic, such as his claims that "Ustashe were not fascists", that during WWII in Zagreb there were "no victims of fascism" and that "Jews are responsible for the Holocaust" because "they prompted other to attack them by robbing and insulting other nations". The lower court verdict, which was only confirmed by the District Court, even finds a flaw in the fact that Ivancic's article "reeks of cosmopolitan views and attitudes"! Because of that "cosmopolitanism" Feral is fined, again with a draconian fine, while Zeljko Olujic (otherwise Marica Metrovic's lawyer) was rewarded for his dirty insults of the Jews by several tens of thousands of Kunas.
This shameful attitude of the Croatian judiciary with respect to the right to criticism is a de facto legalization of censorship, because the court confirms that facts are not questionable in the incriminated articles. The problem is that they were "inappropriately presented". The judicial prosecution with political motives, patented during Tudman's rule, thereby continues its life under the new authorities. Moreover, it is experiencing a renaissance. The new authorities not only did not stop the persecution of the independent media, but the developments indicate that they actually even encourage that persecution. One indication of that, among other, is the fact that the new authorities have kept the stipulation about "urgent procedure" in suits against journalists and publishers in the new, rewritten Penal Code. The new rulers, obviously, will not be disturbed by the disappearance of the media fined because of their "cosmopolitan views".
Facing such unscrupulous financial blows, the editors of Feral Tribune cannot guarantee that the magazine will be published in the future, especially given judicial verdicts and financial sanctions that have been announced and are expected in the near future. In the next issue of Feral Tribune, instead of verdicts, we shall again publish incriminated articles, so that we can inform the public about the scale of the crime perpetrated by the Croatian judiciary against the freedom of speech.