The Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) expressed support for colleague Dinko Gruhonjic, who wrote to Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman requesting protection for his son David, who works and studies in Zagreb, reported Croatian daily Jutarnji List.
Dinko Gruhonjic, an associate professor at the Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy, journalist, and program director of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina, has been the target of a “political campaign for nearly a year, which involves not only pro-regime media and various government officials but also Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has labeled Gruhonjic an ‘ustasha’ and accused him of being ‘anti-Serbian,’” Jutarnji List reported.
The daily notes that Gruhonjic’s family has also faced these attacks, as well as that “the Belgrade media-political factory of lies has accused his son of collaborating with the Croatian Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA), just as they regularly accuse the students protesting in Serbia.”
The campaign also targeted Croatian students visiting Serbia, accusing them of being SOA agents sent to overthrow the Serbian government, Jutarnji List notes.
Gruhonjic’s letter to the Croatian leadership, also sent to the HND, was prompted by Serbian Ambassador to Croatia Jelena Milic’s involvement in the smear campaign. Milic shared false information on her Facebook profile that threatens the safety of Gruhonjic’’s son.
Following Milic’s post, the pro-regime tabloid Informer published allegations that same day saying Gruhonjic’s son was “working with Croatian intelligence services to destabilize Serbia by infiltrating agents into student protests in Serbia.”
“Foreign ambassadors should also be responsible for their citizens temporarily working in other countries,” Gruhonjic wrote in his letter to Croatian leadership, emphasizing that, instead, Serbian Ambassador Milic “has joined the witch hunt in a way that endangers the safety of Gruhonjic’s son in Croatia,” the daily reported.
The HND called on Croatian leadership to take Gruhonjic’s appeal seriously and ensure protection for the young man, who has been drawn into this political situation solely because of his family background, putting his safety in Croatia at risk, reads the statement published by Jutarnji list.
Source: N1
