Croatia / County Court in Zagreb / Kž-573/15-3
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 the offender of hate crime on the basis of race. In a shop owned by the victim, the offender made offensive comments based on race, for no other reason than his intolerance for persons of another race. After that, he pulled the victim by her hair and injured her. He also smashed the glass door of the shop.
Main reasoning/argumentation
The accused filed a complaint accepting that he smashed victim’s property, however denying that his acts were motivated by hatred or intolerance towards persons of another race. The high court ruled that the first instance court correctly assessed all the facts and circumstances and that the first instance court provided substantiated reasoning for its assessment.
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 High Court upheld the First Instance court’s decision in qualifying this offence as an aggravated form of physical injury due to hatred on the bases of race and as a property offence in connection to hate crime as an aggravating circumstance . The High Court refers to the first instance decision for detailed reasoning without elaborating on what is hatred on the bases of race and how the offence qualifies as hate crime.
Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case
Eight months of imprisonment substituted with work for common welfare in a way that one day of imprisonment is substituted with 2 hours of work.
Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details
N/A