Director of the non-governmental organization Action for Human Rights (HRA) Tea Gorjanc Prelevic she said that they did not receive a response to the appeal addressed to the Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Tatjana Begović, by which the HRA, together with 21 other NGOs, demanded that the State Prosecutor's Office urgently abandon the misdemeanor prosecution of historians and professors of the Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature (FCJK). Boban Batrićević.
The trial of Batrićević due to the views he expressed in the column will begin on Monday in the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica.
The criminal complaint against Batrićević was filed by a lawyer Dejan Dragović, accusing him of inciting national, racial and religious hatred.
The Higher State Prosecutor's Office (VDT) previously informed "Vijesta" that they requested that misdemeanor proceedings be initiated against Batrićević, after they determined that there were no elements of the reported criminal offense:
"Nor of any other criminal offense for which he is being prosecuted ex officio, but that in this particular case it is a misdemeanor, for which reasons the request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings was submitted."
In the decision of the acting prosecutor, it is stated that Batrićević committed an offense under Article 19 of the Law on Public Order and Peace. That article of the law provides for a sanction of 250 to 1.500 euros, or a prison sentence of up to 60 days, for anyone "who in a public place by speech, inscription, sign or otherwise insults another on the basis of national, racial or religious affiliation, ethnic origin or other personal property".
"He (Batrićević) is being prosecuted by the state prosecutor from the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica Snežana Sišević, but Mrs. Begović is the one who, as acting VDT is responsible for the legal performance of all tasks of the State Prosecutor's Office. We expected her to examine the work of prosecutor Šišević and issue mandatory instructions for work in this case that would ensure that the State Prosecutor's Office respects international standards of freedom of speech and does not suppress criticism protected by freedom of expression with this procedure," Gorjanc Prelevic told "Vijesta".
She pointed out that they explained all that in the letter, referring to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights according to which Montenegro had already violated the Convention in the same area.
"So, in a timely manner, we tried to influence not to proceed further with the accusation, which is contrary to the generally known standards of freedom of speech," she said.
Gorjanc Prelevic believes that any conviction in this case would be found by the European Court of Human Rights to be a violation of freedom of expression:
"And that we fulfill our civic duty by trying to prevent limited public resources from being spent to prevent debate in a democratic society, such as the contested text initiated".
Gorjanc Prelevic said that, while on the one hand, the State Prosecutor's Office wants to punish the critical review of public statements by religious officials as hate speech, on the other hand, it does not investigate proven and militant hate speech in Pljevlja and beyond.
"Time to reconsider priorities and motives - with European standards to the European Union or back to self-isolation", she assessed.
On Friday, it was not possible to reach Batrićević on the phone number available to the "Vijesti" newsroom.
In the column titled "Trokanje po Metodoliju i Đaonikija", published on the Antena M portal on August 11 last year, Batrićević analyzes the political scene and, among other things, states:
"Popes of the Church of Serbia in Montenegro do not preach the faith of Christ, preach Serbian nationalism, indoctrinate, spread hatred and xenophobia. Therefore, they are not priests and monks, they are torokusha and preachers of hatred".
In the text, Batrićević cited quotes from the speech of the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church Joanikia and the bishop Metodije Ostojić.
In the last paragraph, Batrićević writes, among other things:
"From what has been offered, it is clear that the priests of the Church of Serbia have only one mission - to pollute Montenegro, to write down its history and territory, to send disturbing messages to all non-Serbs of this country...".
Batrićević, among other things, in the question in the column "do they call for peace", gives quotes from Methodius as answers:
"Russia is the hope for the entire freedom-loving world ... In holy Russia there is hope for the salvation of not only the Orthodox peoples, but the whole of Europe and the world."
And Joanikija: "It is a big deal that this right is denied not only to me, but also to the church and the Orthodox people in Montenegro from some groups that appear like mushrooms after the rain. But we know that mushrooms don't last long and it will disappear".
Several media and NGOs requested from the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica that the trial of Batrićević be held in a courtroom large enough to accommodate all interested parties. The Court for Misdemeanors, as reported by the media, responded that they work in conditions of reduced spatial capacity, that the offices where judges judge are small, and that there is a possibility of the presence of one media representative.
A group of citizens and members of the Montenegrin diaspora called for, as they announced, a peaceful gathering in front of the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica, on Monday, January 22, from 8.30:XNUMX a.m.
According to the media, the petition in support of Batrićević was signed by more than 2.000 citizens.
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