The Misdemeanor Court in Bijelo Polje fined the Mayor of the Municipality in the retrial Petar Smolović because he insulted the then councilor of the Europe Now Movement, and the current State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Andrija Delić.
Judge of the Court of Misdemeanors Andrijana Bulatović She ordered Smolović to pay a fine of 100 euros, as well as another 30 euros in court costs.
The insults occurred on October 28, 2023, during a session of the Bijelo Polje Municipal Assembly, when Smolović called Delić a pro-Russian and pro-Serbian mercenary.
The incident began when Delić said that the Bijelo Polje utility company had invoiced significantly lower bills than expected - for garbage collection to a private company. Vojislav Smolović, who is the brother of the Mayor.
The court's ruling states that Smolović is guilty of saying at around 15 p.m. that day at a session of the Municipal Assembly: "Who pays you to say that? You are a pro-Russian, pro-Serbian mercenary. I will expose you and that organization. They kicked you out of Serbia like a dog."
The case was returned for retrial after the appeal of defense attorney Smolović was upheld, thus overturning the decision of the Minor Offences Court.
Even in the retrial, Smolović did not accept responsibility for the act he was charged with in the request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings.
In his defense, he pointed out that upon arriving at the hall, he was warned by certain people that Europe Now Movement councilor Andrija Delić was preparing a provocation.
"Considering that his family was mentioned in a negative context, namely that the company owned by his brother does not pay utility bills, and that this is a consequence of his influence from the position he holds, he understood it as a personal, family and political provocation, and asked to speak. On that occasion, he was emotionally charged and it hurt him as a man who has been conscientiously and honestly doing his job for 10 years. On that occasion, he said that it was incorrect, untrue and politically motivated, that it was a political provocation, and that he was doing it for a certain political interest in order to prove himself in his party," the verdict states, with Smolović emphasizing that there was nothing offensive in his speech and that the response was within the framework of a political debate, denying that he had in any way endangered Delić's safety.
The radio broadcast, however, was interrupted, so their discussion was not broadcast.
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