Croatia / County Court in Pula / Kž-263/13
Country
Croatia
Year
Decision/ruling/judgment date
Incident(s) concerned/related
Related Bias motivation
Groups affected
Court/Body type
Court/Body
Key facts of the case
The High Court convicted a man of threatening a Serbian from an ethnic minority with violence, with the aggravating circumstance of targeting a person on the basis of ethnic origin.The offender repeatedly threatened the victim that he would kill all the Serbs and cut them in pieces and sexually assault the victim. In doing so the offender was holding a metal object and exposed his genitals, which disturbed and frightened the victim.
Main reasoning/argumentation
The high court held that mentioning the ethnic origin of the victim in his threats was not aimed only at provoking the victim, but shows hatred towards the members of that ethnic group.
Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?
Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case
The first-instance court did not qualify this case as motivated by hatred towards victims of Serb ethnicity. However, high court altered legal qualification, confirming that repeated insults on ethnic basis lead to conclusion that this was a hate crime.
Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case
Four months of imprisonment substituted with 40 working days of work for common welfare.
Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details
“U situaciji kada optuženik izgovara riječi “Srbi, sasjeckat ću vas na komadiće, pobit ću vas sve” izražava svoju mržnju prema osobama srpske nacionalnosti, a vidljivo je da se ne radi samo o uobičajenoj prijetnji lišenjem života”
"In the situation when the accused pronounces the words" Serbs, I will cut you in pieces, I will kill you all ", he expresses his hatred towards the people of Serb ethnicity, and it is obvious that this is not just about the usual threat of deprivation of life"