ZAGREB, 2 August, 2022 - Šibenik-Knin County police have brought in two people for questioning in connection with an incident on the island of Tijat, where, according to the media, HRT reporter Maja Sever was attacked on Monday while photographing the usurpation of the shore and the public property.

The police said a criminal investigation is underway, and two people have been brought in to establish the circumstances, after which the public will be informed accordingly.

On Monday, a reporter for the national HRT broadcaster, Maja Sever, accompanied by Judge Sandra Artuković, went to see if the Spirito restaurant on the island of Tijat was open. The restaurant was recently closed by the state inspectorate because it did not meet the minimum technical requirements. According to witnesses, the two women were attacked by the restaurant's owner, who seized a cell phone and threw it away.

Sever said that after she called the police they told the owner that that was a public area and that no one could stop them from taking photos.

"I didn't take anyone's photo but of the beach. I wasn't on any assignment," explained Sever.

According to the media, the restaurant owner believes that the cove where the restaurant is located is theirs, even though there is no proof of that in the land records.

ZAGREB, 14 June 2022 - The head of the Croatian Journalists Union, Maja Sever, has been elected President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) at the organisation's general meeting that is taking place in Izmir, Turkey on 13 and 14 June, the Croatian Journalists Association announced on Tuesday.

Sever received 137 votes, while the other candidate for this position, Mariusz Pilis of Poland, gained 7 votes.

Sever is the first woman to serve as EFJ President in the organisation's history. She thanked the delegates for their nearly unanimous support.

"This election is a great honour to me and a chance for us to continue our struggle for strong and independent professional journalism," Sever said after her election.

She said her presidency would focus on the safety of journalists, improvement of worker and professional rights and the status of freelance journalists, and the fight against SLAPP lawsuits. She also highlighted the importance of journalist associations and unions fighting for better strategic and legislative frameworks at the national and EU levels.

The EFJ is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320,000 journalists in 73 journalists' organisations across 45 countries.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, Sept 26, 2020 - Employers in the media sector are using the pandemic as an excuse to reduce the rights of journalists and media workers, it was said on Saturday at a meeting of the Journalists' Union of Croatia (SNH).

Such conditions emphasize the need for union action, said SNH head, Maja Sever.

According to her, employers have lately been shifting coronavirus-related business difficulties to employees, whose salaries have not improved despite savings made by working from home.

She said that the situation in the local media was "catastrophic", which was especially felt by freelance journalists and contract workers.

Sever said that the main task of the trade union was to ensure the signing of collective agreements that protected the interests of workers in addition to the Labour Act and to make a branch collective agreement at the national level, which the union had been trying to do for years without success.

She said that the SNH would advocate changes to the "outdated media legislation" which "does not recognize modern models of work at all."

Some of the problems mentioned at the meeting include wage cuts disproportionate to the drop in revenue, reporters not receiving compensation for commuting expenses despite going on assignments, and no financial compensation for job expenses incurred by working at home.

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