Croatia / County Court in Pula / Kž-263/13

Country

Croatia

Title

Croatia / County Court in Pula / Kž-263/13

View full Case

Year

2013

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Friday, November 08, 2013

Incident(s) concerned/related

Violence

Related Bias motivation

Race/Ethnicity

Groups affected

Migrants

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

County Court in Pula (Županijski sud u Puli -Pola)

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"

DISCLAIMERThe information presented here is collected under contract by the FRA's research network FRANET. The information and views contained do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA.