LGBT Forum Progres published the publication "Overview of cases of hate speech directed against the LGBTI community"

LGBT Forum Progres announced today that as part of regular, continuous activities of monitoring and reporting hate speech directed at LGBTI persons, which they have been implementing for more than ten years, they present to the Montenegrin public the publication "Overview of cases of hate speech directed against the LGBTI community".

They said that this publication presents an overview of some of the cases from 2022, which unequivocally indicate that the rate of hatred faced by LGBTI people does not cease to be a serious problem in our society.

"We remind you that last year LGBT Forum Progres submitted more than 200 applications for hate speech on social networks. The data and cases presented in this publication once again confirm and show the necessity of continuous work on strengthening the awareness of Montenegrin citizens about understanding the concept of hate speech, i.e. difference between discriminatory speech and the expression of personal opinion in public space, with a special emphasis on communication conducted via the Internet. As the only civil society organization that deals in this way with systematic monitoring and reporting of hate speech in our country, we point out again and again the extremely serious problem of speech hatred directed towards LGBTI persons in Montenegro and the absence of adequate mechanisms of systemic protection for LGBTI persons, who are daily targets of hatred, discrimination and violence", the press release of the LGBT Forum Progres points out.

From that non-governmental organization (NGO) they said that it is necessary to problematize the fact that their applications are processed according to the Law on Public Order and Peace, and in that sense the Court for Misdemeanors considers the applicant to be injured, and not the whole community.

"Similar practice was continued by the Court for Misdemeanors in Rožaje and for misdemeanors from Article 24a, paragraph 4, in connection with paragraph 1, item 4, and all in connection with Article 9a of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, even though "hate speech is and any form of expression of ideas, any form of expression of ideas, assertions, information and opinions that spreads, incites, incites or justifies discrimination, hatred or against a group of persons because of their personal characteristics". person, but the entire community, it remains unclear why the misdemeanor courts consider the applicant as the injured party, and not the entire community. Additionally, the question arises why the applicants of the Police Administration link the description of the factual situation to the circumstances of the nature of misdemeanor offenses, i.e. to the Law on Public order and peace and the Law on Misdemeanors, and not the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination and the article related to hate speech, and the question arises as to why the courts do not return such cases for refinement and requalification and whether the aim of the judgments is to create unreliable statistics such as we have today ?", the announcement reads.

The LGBT Forum Progres said that judging by court statistics and the processing of final judgments, there is no hate speech and discrimination directed against LGBTI persons in Montenegro, which, as they added, is not based in reality, but leads us to the existence of incorrect application of legal provisions and interpretation of the law.

"Having all this in mind, it is necessary to direct additional efforts in the direction of adequate education of the applicants of the Police Administration and the judges themselves in the misdemeanor courts, in order to ensure the adequate protection of LGBTI persons and the expedient application of existing legal solutions, which correspond to misdemeanor acts committed against LGBTI persons. The publication was created as part of the project "Strengthening the national response to hate crimes, hate speech and discrimination against LGBTI persons", which was financed by the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights of Montenegro. The views expressed in the publication are the views of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Ministry," said the LGBT Forum Progres.