The Government must prevent any undermining of artistic and journalistic freedoms – there are no “more equal” ones, the Constitution applies to all!
The freedom of creation and the freedom of thought and speech, which were once the cornerstones of Croatian society, are now retreating in the face of various forms of violence. These freedoms were recently challenged in Benkovac and subsequently taken away from those for whom these freedoms mean existence – people who live from culture, as creators, promoters, and interpreters. Even more importantly, these freedoms were taken away from the dispersed audience.
The winner of the Pula Film Festival, the film Peacemaker, and the long-standing theatrical success of Theatre & TD's play I Hate the Truth were declared unsuitable during street unrest, and their performances were subsequently obstructed – first in Benkovac and then partly in Zadar.
With the rejection of these works and their authors, it was not only their local promoters who were cast aside, but all the State institutions that had recognised and supported these works during their development and creation. All the public effort of the community to make possible, in the face of the poor conditions faced by culture, the creation of what is most valuable, cultural treasures and future heritage, has been trampled, and this includes the contested works mentioned above.
Award-winning works cannot be made available only to the privileged because of where they live, since the Preamble to the Constitution enshrines the duty to care for the cultural development of all, not only of residents of large cities.
We therefore stand up for what is most vulnerable: the freedom and rights of the population living in a neglected area – ravaged by hatred immediately before, during and after the war, and then in peacetime left to the neglect of the authorities and to oblivion. The freedom to speak the language of culture, even when spoken by those who do not please the current public administration, is a fundamental freedom of the order that we understand as the Republic.
We condemn the physical violence against journalist Melita Vrsaljko in Benkovac, the assault on Petar Milat, President of the Multimedia Institute, in Korčula, and the threats made against the President of the Anti-Fascist League of Croatia, Zoran Pusić, on 11 July; against the President of the Serb National Council, Boris Milošević, on 21 July; against Hrvoje Hribar, Director of KIC; as well as the threatening graffiti scrawled near the home of the award-winning writer Miljenko Jergović – and all other attacks against those who have come under fire for their public work and for publicly expressing their opinions.
The case that has moved us is neither an academic nor a professional problem, nor do we approach it academically. It concerns the survival of fundamental standards and the paralysis of the so-called state apparatus, which is either unable or no longer willing to protect the basic preconditions of society: law and order, as well as the constitutional framework. This is how the end of a State begins. Perhaps not the end of every kind of state, but certainly the end of the Republic – the only form of statehood in which we believe.
We want to live in a country where we fight for a Croatia that belongs to all of us. That is why we expect a response and solidarity from the professions, as well as a prompt response from the Government to every threat to artistic, journalistic, and academic freedoms.
We call on the Government to stop belittling the threat to democracy – a framework on which it itself depends.
Some veterans’ groups, who believe they speak with the voice of all those who once took part in the armed defence, argue that artistic works created by Croatian artists are not in line with the Declaration on the Homeland War. Their interventions are loud, sometimes aggressive, and reveal a factual ignorance of the artistic works they attack, while demanding rights that do not belong to them and are not founded in the Constitution or law, but rather in some supposed “special” rights.
The said Declaration outlines the legal definition of the armed struggle for freedom, defining freedom as the freedom of democratic life, pluralism, and the right to civic and cultural liberties, with peace as the ultimate goal of the struggle.
With this press release, we are responding to events and actions, as well as inactions, that have nothing to do with peace. We are responding to the erosion of the fundamental social framework to which, until now, we as cultural workers, scientists, activists, journalists, and public figures have sought to contribute.
We appeal to the Government and the political class as a whole (with thanks to the exceptions) to recognise the risk they are taking through inaction: the paralysis of the system, the silence of institutions, the fear of political leaders and the passivity of state media.
You can sign the press release at the following link:
https://forms.gle/eybc7nxAeJRZQuA57
To date, the initiative has been supported by 113 organisations/associations/unions/institutions and 580 individuals. The list can be found here.
