BELGRADE, 26.07.2018. – The editor of a pro-government tabloid has been found guilty of using hate speech in an article about the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) NGO.
The Higher Court in Belgrade published its ruling on Wednesday, saying that Informer daily tabloid newspaper editor Dragan J. Vucicevic has been found guilty of violating the ban on hate speech and ordering him to pay the costs of the trial and publish the entire ruling.
The YIHR issued a press release recalling that it had sued Vucicevic over a February 1 front page story titled War Against Foreign Mercenaries which it quoted as calling for a ban on “NGOs which receive millions of Euros from the West to create divisions and chaos … in order to stop organizations such as the fascist Youth Initiative for Human Rights”.
The YIHR expressed hope in Wednesday’s press release that the court ruling would be a turning point not only in judiciary practice but in changing public attitudes towards people who spread hatred and inspire violence. “Court rulings are the foundations of a state of law but instant and efficient public condemnation is also needed for society to show clearly that is not siding with people who spread hatred, intolerance and lies,” it said.
Vucicevic has already been sentenced on several occasions to pay damages for offensive stories in the Informer tabloid which is considered to be closely linked to the current Serbian authorities.