Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006and incitement of religious, racial and national hatred and intolerance. 464A sentence ranging from 6 months to up to 5 years in prison has beendetermined as the punishment for the incitement of hatred and intolerance. 465The state attorney is due to initiate legal proceedings for the commission ofthis act. However, as in so many previous cases, the attorney’s office failedto act accordingly.On April 13 th 2006, daily KURIR, in its Sport section, published an articleheadlined “Even the Shiptars Mock Us”. 466 The text, signed by initials D.P.,focuses on the slogan in English language, which the football fans postedin the Prishtina football stadium: “Serbia Like Nokia – Getting Smaller Dayby Day”. 467 The KURIR journalist notes that this is a joke already circlingaround Serbia, and adds: “Finally, after several months, the joke reached theShiptars, which only proved that they would have progressed more swiftlyhad they still considered Belgrade their tutor”. 468 The journalist then goeson to “explain” that at first only a small number of fans “got the message”,understood the joke, and it wasn’t until 10 minutes later, that the stadiumfinally responded – 10 minutes was needed “for the joke to reach the mindof the last Shiptar in a traditional small white hat to comprehend the linkbetween technological evolution of this Finnish product and the Serbianterritorial problem”. 469 The text closes with: “The literate and illiterate, bothseem to have only now become acquainted with the use of soap, while untiljust recently they used to stick their teeth in unpeeled lemon, whereas todaythey’ve been given the chance to mock the incapability of Serbs. That’sprecisely what we’ve deserved.” 470In this article the whole nation has been labeled as illiterate, uncultured,uneducated, with clear allusion to a “lesser race”. Such qualifications arestrictly forbidden by the law. Apart from hate-speech, these formulationscontain unabashed racism, which easily transforms itself into open violenceagainst the members of the “denounced” national community. The Initiativepressed charges on May 12, 2006 to the First Municipal Court in Belgrade toestablish whether there has been hate speech 471 . The charges require from464 Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, Official Gazetta of RS, Number 85/05, Article 317, Paragraph 1465 Ibid466 D.P: Even the Shiptars Mock Us, KURIR, April 13, 2006467 Ibid468 Ibid469 Ibid470 Ibid471 The charges for establishing “hate speech” in daily KURIR were submitted to the First Municipal Court inBelgrade on May 12 th , 2006 and are in the Initiative’s documentation.98