Action for Human Rights (HRA) is protesting against the decision of state prosecutor Snežana Šišević to demand the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings against historian Boban Batrićević because of a text in which he criticized the controversial positions of the leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Metropolitan Joaniki and Bishop Metodi of Budimlja-Nikšić, it was announced. from that non-governmental organization.
They said that they believe that the state prosecutor thereby showed her ignorance of the international standards of freedom of expression that bind Montenegro, and that it is extremely dangerous that state prosecutors, "who are authorized to initiate the mechanism of state repression against citizens, do not have adequate knowledge of basic human rights ".
They pointed out that "the old practice of going to prison for a 'verbal offence' due to criticism of the government must not be returned to a country that is a member of the Council of Europe and aspires to become a member of the European Union".
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"Mr. Batrićević's text "Torokanje po Methodologiju i Đaonikija" contains a sharp but critical review of the statements of public figures, which the fact that they are high priests of the SPC does not in itself protect them from criticism in the democratic society in which they actively operate. The prohibition of criticizing religious dignitaries is characteristic of theocracies such as, for example, Iran, Pakistan or Afghanistan, and Montenegro is still a democracy," the HRA press release states.
They said that the mentioned text does not contain "insulting another on the basis of religious affiliation, as claimed by the plaintiff Šišević, but a criticism of the controversial historical interpretations of high priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church, on the basis of which the author drew his conclusions that they promote nationalism, hatred and indoctrination, which are all issues of exceptional general interest in a diverse ethnic and religious environment such as Montenegro".
"The author of the text based his strong value judgments on publicly stated statements, which have not been denied," it added.
The HRA said that if the metropolitan and the bishop do not agree with the views expressed in the text, they should say so publicly and participate in the debate that Batrićević started.
They claim that Bishop Methodius himself, in one of his statements mentioned in the text, points out that he and other priests of the SPC are the ones "who follow the truth".
"The human right to freedom of expression enables the presentation of strong value judgments, which also contain a dose of insult, exaggeration and provocation, as long as they are based on facts. That this is the essence of tolerance and pluralism in a democratic society, which rests on debate, the European Court of Human Rights explained in hundreds of its judgments, including Šabanović v. Montenegro and Serbia (paragraph 36) and Koprivica v. Montenegro (paragraph 61) from 2011. In the Šabanović judgment, the court also reminded that there is "little room for limiting discussions on issues of public interest" especially by criminal repression, which includes misdemeanor prosecution for which a prison sentence is threatened," the announcement reads.
"State prosecutor Snežana Šišević submitted a request to the misdemeanor court to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against Boban Batrićević due to the text "Torokanje po Methodologija i Đaonikia", in which, in her opinion, Article 19 of the Law on Public Order and Peace of Montenegro was violated, which reads: "Who on 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 characteristic, shall be punished for the misdemeanor with a fine of 250 euros to 1.500 euros or imprisonment for up to 60 days," concludes in the announcement of the HRA.
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