Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

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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
Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006the First Municipal Court in Belgrade to pass a court ruling establishingthat the mentioned text is hate speech, to remove the disputed text fromthe internet site of this daily, to ban further publication of this or similararticles in the future, that the court ruling against KURIR is published asa whole and without commentary and that the attorney is jointly paid outexpenses for the lawsuit 472 .On October 6, Judge Vesna Lazarevic of the First Municipal Court inBelgrade threw out the charges pressed by the Initiative for hate speechagainst KURIR 473 . Judge Lazarevic explained in the rationale of the courtruling that citations from the article are not sufficient for inciting hatred,although they are “questionable”, 474 according to her. The judge pointedout in her verdict that the use of the word “Shiptar” is not offensive, noris offensive an assumption that one whole people can speak English 475 .According to her, offenses against Albanians are not cases of hate speechas “hate is a strong feeling of hostility that can cause extremely negativereactions …” 476 .The judge characterized the words saying that Albanians “…are in positionto mock Serbian incapability. That’s what we deserve” as “an expression ofdeep worry because of difficult political situation, which is the idea of thetext. 477 ” The judiciary’s reactions to hate speech in the media are illustratedby the following citations from the court ruling:“The disputed article needs to be seen in connection with current politicalevents in Kosovo-Metohija, as it was this background that led to a text ofsuch content and consequently a harsh reaction of the press, and which isstill shown in the uncertain destiny of the Serbian southern province, thereporting to the public for years on ghettoization and difficult conditions inwhich the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija live, with constant reportingof the media on violence, even with lethal consequences exercised againstfew Serbs who continued to live in Kosovo. Also, historical importance ofKosovo in the collective conscience of Serbian society must not be neglectedeither as it is related to the memory of numerous and large victims who fellfor this part of Serbia. 478 ”472 Ibid473 The court ruling following the charges of the Initiative against daily KURIR was passed on October 6 th , 2006and is in the Initiative’s documentation474 Ibid475 Ibid476 Ibid477 Ibid478 Ibid99
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Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

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