ZAGREB, 24 February 2021 - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has announced legal action against the Index.hr news website for creating a pop-up asking its visitors to say if they are human beings or members of the HDZ before entering the website.
"Since the use of audio and/or audiovisual media services for incitement of hatred or discrimination on the grounds of political or other convictions is prohibited in Croatia, we expect the competent authorities and the Croatian Journalists Association to act accordingly, and the HDZ will take appropriate legal action," the party said in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening.
Index.hr today had a pop-up asking visitors to identify themselves either as human beings or HDZ members before proceeding further onto the website. The former option enables visitors to access the website, while the latter offers its articles about corrupt HDZ members.
The HDZ strongly condemned this act of discrimination against its members and sympathisers, saying that it came "ten days after there has been no public reaction to the hate speech of the owner of the Three Monkeys cafe in Rijeka."
The cafe owner, angered by decisions of the government and the national COVID-19 response team, wrote on his Facebook page ten days ago that HDZ members and supporters were not welcome in his establishment.
The move by the Index.hr website has been condemned by several cabinet ministers and HDZ MPs, MEPs and members.
