European Diary:The men in leather jackets came at 7am in the morning with pistols strapped to their backs. They confiscated four computers, a mobile phone, contact books and hundreds of documents belonging to the Croatian investigative journalist Zeljko Peratovic, writes Jamie Smyth
"They told my four-year-old daughter and my wife not to move and took everything from 15 years of investigative work - documents, cassettes and CDs," says Peratovic, who spent the night in prison before being released earlier this month.
Peratovic was detained on suspicion of disclosing state secrets on his internet blog, in a move demanded by both the head of the secret service and the office of the public prosecutor.
His detention, which has taken place ahead of a general election scheduled for November 25th, has prompted public concerns over press freedom in Croatia, a country that wants to join the EU in 2009.
The international journalist association Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned the arrest, which it said related to posts on the reporter's blog (www.peratovic.net).
Peratovic, who received a press freedom prize from the Austrian section of Reporters Without Borders in 2003, is best known for his reporting on the death of Milan Levar, a witness for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Levar was killed by a car bomb in 2000 in Gospic, a town in southwest Croatia.
Since then Peratovic has struggled to persuade mainstream newspapers in Croatia to accept his articles. He also alleges regular harassment by the Croatian secret service.
"I think they arrested me for revenge and to try and find out who my informants are in the state services and the media," Peratovic told The Irish Times. "The secret service has been bugging my phone, opening letters and following me because of my work, which has revealed links between top politicians and crimes in the 1990s."
The reaction to the arrest from the public and from journalism associations has prompted Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader to order an inquiry into the affair. It has also raised fears that Croatia's past could re-emerge to damage its EU prospects.
State harassment of journalists was common during the 1990s when Croatia was ruled with an iron grip by authoritarian president Franjo Tudjman.
But in recent years the government led by Sanader has implemented several legislative reforms meant to guarantee freedom of the press. Indeed, last December the Organisation for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe ruled that enough progress had been made to enable it to conclude its work on press freedom.
"Political, but also commercial pressure on media will probably continue in Croatia, yet the mission believes that media institutions and the civil society sector have reached the point where they can assume the watchdog and advisory role," says the OSCE's Ljerka Drazenovic. "The fact that reactions from the media, media associations and civil society circles were so prompt and loud [ about Peratovic], tell that public awareness of protecting this democratic value is high. It is per se a good sign, indicating the achieved level of media freedom in Croatia will be preserved." Under OSCE standards journalists should not be responsible for protecting state secrets or held accountable for publishing classified information. Only the officials who have a specific legal duty to maintain confidentiality may be held liable if they allow disclosures, says Drazenovic.
Just one important law on press freedom remains to be put in place in Croatia - legislation on the state Croatian Radio and Television network. This was put on hold until after the election because of political sensitivities. The government also needs to follow through on plans to set up a media council, says the OSCE.
But new laws do not always change practice, and state control over some media is a real issue, says Ivan Butkovic, of the Croatian Association of Radio and Newspapers.
"Big media firms can resist political and commercial pressure, but at a local level there are issues in Croatia. For example 60 per cent of local radio stations are owned by local authorities. This means local politicians wield great influence," he says.
Josip Kregar, dean of the faculty of law at the University of Zagreb, agrees that control over local radio either by local politicians or entrepreneurs often gives them huge sway in local communities. He also highlights the growing commercial pressure on the media exerted by big companies, which can use advertising to control it. But he says the controversy over the arrest of Peratovic probably reflects problems with the Croatian secret service rather than political influence over the media.
"There is freedom of the press in Croatia, but the secret service is not yet fully under political control," says Kregar. "It is not one case with a journalist, but it is about a conspiracy network behind the secret service."
He points out that political oversight of the secret service will be critical when the EU comes to judge Croatia's readiness to join.
Peratovic, who is pledging to continue working as an investigate reporter in Croatia, gives his own assessment of Croatia's readiness to join the 27-member club. "With things like this happening to journalists how can we join the EU?" he asks.