EU Human Rights Commissioner Slams Belgrade Court Ruling on Defamation of FM

The High Court of Belgrade should make sure that the decision to fine the NIN magazine over allegedly damaging the reputation of Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic is in compliance with the EU law, in order to avoid negatively impacting the freedom of media, Council of Europe Commission for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the High Court of Belgrade found NIN guilty in defamation of Stefanovic through a June article, and ordered the magazine to pay a fine of 300,000 Serbian Dinar ($2570) to Stefanovic.

"The Serbian judiciary needs to ensure that its jurisprudence concerning defamation is in line with the European Court’s case-law, while politicians, on their part, should be open to uninhibited public criticism and should prevent actions that can have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, especially for journalists," Muiznieks said in a Facebook post.

The human rights commissioner added that concept of defamation should be interpreted in tandem with the freedom of expression, and that the court should not be "overly protective" of an official's reputation, over fear of creating boundaries for journalists.

In June 2016, Serbia’s NIN magazine published an article about Stefanovic, attacking the performance of his ministry and his failure to properly respond to complaints. Stefanovic sued the publication, claiming that the article negatively affected his personal and professional reputation.