OSCE media freedom representative reviews Slovakia's draft Press Act, urges Government to implement recommendations
VIENNA, 14 February 2008 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFOM), Miklos Haraszti, issued an analysis of Slovakia's draft Press Act today, with recommendations on bringing the draft into line with the country's international commitments to protect media freedom.
"As the Slovak Government put the draft on the Parliament's agenda in its present, highly controversial form, the only way to improve it now is through amendments," said Haraszti. "The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media office stands ready to support the Government, should it wish to implement the recommendations."
Summarizing the RFOM recommendations, Haraszti said: "We continue to ask the Slovak Government to remove Section 6(1) on content restrictions imposable by the Culture Ministry. As our review shows, this provision would turn government officials into judges of media content, and could lead to arbitrary abuse for political ends."
He also urged the Government to cut the three new mandatory remedial duties that the draft imposes on editors: a 'right of correction' for inaccuracies, a 'right of reply' for critical opinions, and a 'right to supplementary information', when a trial's outcome was not sufficiently reported.
"A right of reply can be justified, but this flood of measures would destroy editorial autonomy. A right of reply should apply only where the claimant has a justified interest in correcting untrue or misleading information," said Haraszti. "We also strongly urge extending the conditions under which a reply can be refused by the editors, and ensure that editors are free to take into account the public's right to information."
The review was commissioned by the OSCE from ARTICLE 19, a leading global freedom of expression and freedom of information organization.
The document is downloadable in Slovak and English at www.osce.org/fom.