23. 01. 2013

Belgrade mayor urged to drop lawsuit against tabloid

Vienna, January 23, 2013 (SEEMO) - The South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) has appealed to Dragan Đilas to drop his RSD 120bn (EUR 1.05bn) lawsuit against Serbian daily Kurir.

The Belgrade mayor and leader of the opposition Democratic Party (DS) also included Kurir's editor-in-chief, Saša Milovanović, in his lawsuit.

The Vienna-based network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI) said in a statement, quoting its secretary-general, Oliver Vujović, that they hoped Đilas "started this case like a joke, and not as a serious court case".

"I hope this especially after the statement he gave to the news agency Tanjug, as quoted by B92," Vujović added.

Đilas told Tanjug "the request for compensation is for the same amount that Kurir wrote was in my possession. All the lawsuits I have filed are for the amounts which Kurir had charged me. The amount is, of course, ludicrous, just like the ludicrous claims that Kurir publishes about me".

Đilas brought the court case against Kurir and its editor-in-chief at the Higher Court in Belgrade on December 26 over alleged "mental suffering due to damage to personal honor and reputation". At the same time Đilas is asking the court to forbid the daily from reporting negatively on him.

Vujović said: "If Đilas thinks that the daily published wrong information, he has of course the right to protect himself. But there are other ways of doing so that do not involve a 1, 05 billion EUR lawsuit. Asking for such an amount of money has nothing to do with the protection of personal rights, honour and reputation, but is a clear step towards closing the paper and a clear attack on press freedom."

He added: "Đilas, as leader of the Democratic Party (DS), the one pro-European party in Serbia, in asking for such an amount of money for protecting his rights, gives a wrong example to other politicians in Serbia and Europe. Đilas should use other avenues of complaint and also respect international recommendations about the maximum amount of compensation to be awarded in a case."

As Kurir informed SEEMO, the court case by Đilas is connected to an article published in Kurir's issue of November 27, 2012 in which the paper quoted a statement made by Petar Petković, a member of the Serbian parliament, during a press conference of the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). Petković, in his statement, claimed that since 2004 Đilas had become one of the wealthiest Serbs thanks to his marketing business, giving some financial amounts as examples.

Đilas should know that as a public figure he must be prepared to tolerate and bear critical comments.

At the same time SEEMO is alarmed at the death threats the owner of Kurir, Aleksandar Rodić, received. According to the daily, threats arrived at Kurir's offices stating that the owner of the newspaper would go the same way as the owner of the Nacional weekly in Croatia, Ivo Pukanic, who was killed in 2008. The owner received the threat in a letter signed with "Atentator" (Assassin) sent from a post office in Belgrade. In addition, the newspaper received threats that the building that houses Kurir's offices would be blown up.

"I am asking the police and the Serbian authorities to investigate these threats against the owner of Kurir and to inform the public as soon as possible about the results of the investigation", Vujović added.