Serbia/ Independent Body/Press Council Hajdrudin Šerifović v. "Pelež"

Country

Serbia

Title

Serbia/ Independent Body/Press Council Hajdrudin Šerifović v. "Pelež"

View full Case

Year

2017

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Incident(s) concerned/related

Other forms of hate speech

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

High regulatory authority

Court/Body

Press Council (Savet za štampu)

Key facts of the case

The newspaper “Pelež“ targeted Mr. Hajrudin Šerifović, a war veteran from Obrenovac, by criticizing his taking part in public protests against the Serbian Government. According to two articles published by “Pelež”, Mr. Šerifović was allegedly breeding unprecedented Islamic nationalism in Serbia. He was also blamed for spreading inter-ethnic and religious hatred since he requested on his Facebook account a construction of a local Muslim graveyard.

Main reasoning/argumentation

The Press Council found that “Pelež” breached Section IV of the Serbian Journalists' Code of Conduct that requires a journalist to confront any kind of discrimination, hate speech and incitement to violence.

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 key issue was whether two articles published by the newspaper “Pelež“ constitute a breach of the Serbian Journalists’ Code of Conduct and whether these articles feature hate speech, libel, slander and unsubstantiated accusations. It was also contentious whether the Facebook posts of someone who is not a public figure could be a legitimate reason for media to criticize and offend this person in a discriminatory manner.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

The Press Council found that the newspaper “Pelež” breached the Serbian Journalists' Code of Conduct and issued a public warning.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Čanovi Кomisije za žalbe zaključili su da je list „Palež“ prekršio odredbu Кodeksa novinara Srbije koja se odnosi na obavezu novinara da poštuje privatnost i intergitet ljudi o kojima piše. Objave na privatnom Fejsbuk profilu građanina koji nije javna ličnost nikako ne mogu biti razlog da medij na to „odgovori“ optužbama, uvredama i iznošenjem diskriminiatornih stavova. List je izneo niz kleveta i neutemeljenih optužbi za „nacionalističko divljanje“ i „islamski nacionalizam koji nigde nije zabeležen na prostoru Srbije“, doveo u pitanje Šerifovićevo pravo na penziju, stan, invalidninu i sve druge „privilegije“ koje ima kao bivši pripadnik JNA […] samo na osnovu iznetih političkih stavova sa kojima uredništvo lista nije saglasno." (page 2)

"The members of the Complaint Commission determined that the newspaper “Pelež” violated provision of the Serbian Journalists’Code of Conduct to respect the privacy and integrity of people about whom it reports. By no means could posts on the private Facebook account of a citizen who is not a public figure be a justifiable reason for media to “respond” to these posts with accusations, slanders, discriminatory opinions. The newspaper published an array of libels and uncorroborated accusations of “nationalistic admiration” and “unprecedented Islamic nationalism in Serbia” that put at stake Mr. Serifović right to pension, housing, disability benefits and other “privileges” that he enjoys as a former member of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) […] only because of his political attitudes that the editorship of the newspaper disagreed with. "

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