The Press Council of Honour of the Croatian Journalists' Association (Hrvatsko novinarsko društvo) has called on all media outlets to report responsibly, professionally and ethically on the death of patient Kristian Josip Periša at the Sveti Ivan Psychiatric Clinic. In a statement, they warned about problematic ways of covering the incident in some media.
The Council of Honour emphasises that monitoring such events, particularly when they occur in a public institution, is entirely understandable and in the unquestionable public interest. However, they consider the publication of parts of surveillance camera footage from the hospital room to be an ethically unacceptable practice, regardless of whether the faces of the people filmed are blurred or not. They welcome the decision by the majority of media in Croatia not to publish the footage, while pointing to the ethical lapses of those editorials that nevertheless decided to publish certain parts of the recording.
The HND reminds that showing video recordings that document the use of force, physical suffering and the final moments of a patient's life is contrary to Article 15 of the Code. This article requires journalists to exercise special attention, caution and responsibility when reporting on personal tragedies, illnesses, deaths and acts of violence. They state that technical protection of faces in published video recordings does not justify exposing the public to the act of dying itself.
The Council of Honour assesses the publication of unshielded frames and photographs from the aforementioned recording, on which the faces of the people filmed are not blurred, as an editorial lapse. They warn that this infringes on the provisions of Article 14 of the Code, which protects the privacy, reputation and dignity of the individual.
The Council of Honour also considers the publication of the full first and last names of all participants and actors in the incident, including medical staff and doctors who in this case have exclusively the status of witnesses or have given statements, to be an unacceptable practice. They also believe that revealing the victim's diagnosis is truly not relevant to the context.
The Press Council of Honour appeals to editors and journalists to maintain a high level of criticality and investigative persistence in monitoring the work of institutions in further coverage of this case, but to consistently respect the human dignity, honour and reputation of all persons involved, and especially the privacy of the bereaved.
