Judge at the Higher Court in Belgrade, has issued a verdict against journalists from the Serbian online investigative journalist platform KRIK (Crime and Corruption Reporting Network) over an article in which they revealed that several SLAPP lawsuits had been filed against the editorial team.
KRIK had published an article a year and a half ago, listing individuals who had filed lawsuits against the publication and stating that these so-called SLAP lawsuits are mostly filed by people close to the regime in Serbia and that their goal is to silence journalists.
In that text, among other things, it was mentioned that KRIK was also sued by three police officers. All three sued KRIK again.
As result of this case the KRIK journalists have to pay to police officers a sum of 374,200 dinars (around 3,200 euros) as compensation for mental anguish and costs. Furthermore, KRIK has to remove the part of the article that mentioned the lawsuits filed by the police officers.
The verdict is a first-instance decision, and KRIK has appealed it to the Court of Appeal in Belgrade.
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