Shocking news came from Croatia today - one of the most prominent journalists in South-Eastern Europe Ivo Pukanic and his collegue were killed in the bomb blast in front of their weekly newspaper Nacional. This is the first killing of journalist since Croatia gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The country is candidate for European Union, and is considered the most developed non-EU-member country in the region.
BBC / Croatia blast 'kills media pair'
A car bomb in the Croatian capital Zagreb has killed two journalists, including the owner of a leading weekly newspaper, reports say.
Ivo Pukanic, co-owner of the Nacional weekly, was killed with another employee in the blast outside the newspaper's premises, state TV said.
The explosion occurred in the centre of the capital at about 1820 (1620 GMT), the reports said.
Zagreb has been gripped by a wave of violence this year.
"This is a shock, a disaster .... The police and all of us have to do everything to stop this violence," government spokesman Zlatko Mehun told Reuters news agency.
Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader sacked his interior and justice ministers, as well as the head of the national police, earlier this month in response to the spiralling crime rates across the country.
His move came amid fears that rising violence could threaten Croatia's success during EU accession talks next year, correspondents say.
Croatia hopes to complete negotiations for entry in 2009 and to become the 28th EU member in 2011.
A crucial European Commission progress report is due to be released next month.
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2 comments:
Just as we were talking about last class period, journalists are killed all over the world. Unfortunately, this killing took place in a country that I wouldn't normally suspect a lot of dangerous activity. But really that just goes to show that no matter where you are located, journalism can be very dangerous. While the obvious locations like the Middle East are typically the worst, they do not stand alone. In order to be a good journalist, you have to be a part of the action, and that means putting yourself in the line of fire. The scary thing is that we don't always know the motive behind these killings, and whether or not they are intentional.
It's a pity that this is the reality of journalists. When on decides to become a journalists they have to really take into consideration the danger that could come upon them especially in other countries. It's a shame that Croatia lost such a prominent figure in the media world.
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