Serbia / The Court of Appeal in Belgrade / Kž 978/2022

Country

Serbia

Title

Serbia / The Court of Appeal in Belgrade / Kž 978/2022

View full Case

Year

2022

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Monday, October 10, 2022

Incident(s) concerned/related

Incitement to violence or hatred

Related Bias motivation

Nationality

Groups affected

Third country nationals

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

The Court of Appeal in Belgrade (Apelacioni sud u Beogradu)

Key facts of the case

The Higher Court in Pančevo (trial court) convicted the defendant of incitement of national, racial, and religious hatred and intolerance and sentenced him to four-month prison term. The trial court found that the defendant, a Kosovo war veteran, was guilty of vandalizing a bakery shop owned by an Albanian, thus inciting hatred among Serbs and Albanians in the local community. The trial court ordered defendant’s treatment in a psychiatric ward and issued a restraining order. The defendant appealed arguing the lack of his criminal intent, as he did not target the bakery based on the victim’s nationality, which he was unaware of, but because of the past quarrel. The public prosecutor appealed against the ruling on the sanctions requesting the longer prison term.

Main reasoning/argumentation

The Court of Appeal in Belgrade found the appeal groundless. The trial court had correctly established defendant’s criminal intent, as proven by the witness statements and the fact that he had vandalized the same bakery multiple times in the past without being prosecuted. The defendant must have been aware of the victim’s nationality, as the crime occurred in a small place, where everybody knows everybody, and the bakery had a visible sign with owner’s Albanian name, which the defendant could have recognized as he was a combatant in Kosovo. The trial court correctly ruled on the sanctions by considering all the aggravating and extenuating circumstances, especially defendant’s being a traumatized war veteran.

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

One of the key issues was whether the defendant was aware of the victim’s nationality and intended to incite national hatred in his community. The court opined that the defendant must have been aware of victim’s nationality given the fact that the criminal act took place in a small town and that the vandalized bakery had a visible sign with owner’s Albanian name.

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

The Court rejected the appeals and upheld the first instance ruling. This decision was final. The case is closed. The defendant was sentenced to the four-month prison with security measures: mandatory treatment in a psychiatric ward, and a restraining order for the period of three years.

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

” (…) умишљај окривљеног обухвата свест да својим радњама може изазвати националну, расну, или верску мржњу и нетрпељивост, с тим да није неопходно да она буде изазвана, већ да се ради о радњама које објективно могу изазвати такву последицу (…) радња коју је предузео окривљени (…) оставља јасну поруку да се изазове мржња или нетрпељивост према припадницима албанске националности.” Стр. 5 “(…) defendant’s criminal intent is the awareness that his acts can incite national, racial, or religious hatred or intolerance, however it is not necessary that the hatred is actually incited, but that the criminal acts can objectively lead to this result (…) the act perpetrated by the defendant (…) delivers a clear message of hatred or intolerance against Albanian nationals.” p. 5

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