Croatia: CFWIJ Condemns The Threat Of Dismissal Given To Maja Sever For Speaking Her Mind.
Location: Croatia, Zagreb
Date: March 16, 2021
Journalist Maja Sever was given a dismissal warning by her employer organization when she spoke about the misogynistic culture prevalent in the firm during an interview. She took this decision following the repeated requests she had made with her organization to address the issue but realized they fell on deaf ears.
On March 11, 2021, Maja Sever, the president of the Croatian Journalists Union (SNH), was threatened that she would be removed from her job, by her employer, Croatia’s public TV broadcaster HRT. The warning came following an interview Maja gave to Croatian weekly "Nacional" on March 9, in which she discussed the failure of HRT to address the issue of sexual harassment in its offices. While she had informed HRT regarding the interview prior to when it was conducted, she had not disclosed the issue she would be talking about during it.
Maja brought up the issue initially with HRT's Director-General Kazimir Bačić, when suspicions regarding one of HRT’s managers started doing rounds. Maja suggested that HRT sets up an independent commission to investigate the case, however, Bačić refused. Upon refusal, Maja took this issue up with HRT’s Executive Board and the Parliament’s Media Committee, and while both groups gave a favourable response, Bačić did not budge. Maja decided then, that as President of SNH, it is her duty to warn the public about the misogynistic culture prevalent in the public broadcaster’s newsrooms. So she decided to bring the issue to light in her interview with the "Nacional".
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns this attempt by the HRT’s higher-ups to threaten their own employee into silence. Instead of making the newsrooms safer for women journalists, they are actively making them more hostile; and making it clear in the process that their allegiance lies not with survivors of sexual harassment, but its perpetrators. Maja took every option available to her before finally coming out with the truth in public. The fact that this issue was not addressed at all, and Maja is now being threatened with punishment for wanting to ensure a safe working environment is despicable.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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