Official & Editor to pay some €2,500 to Serbia’s opposition leader for slander

Dragan Đilas
Tanjug / Jadranka Ilić

Belgrade Higher Court ruled that the city Deputy Mayor and a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Goran Vesic and the editor-in-chief of the pro-regime Informer tabloid Dragan J. Vucicevic had to pay a total of nearly 2,500 Euro to the opposition Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) leader Dragan Djilas for “only a part of lies and insults used in an ordered showdown with him,” SSP said on Thursday.

It added the court “established as an absolute untrue the article titled ‘Djilas Turned Out Monkey Again,’ with the tagline reading that “Djilas accused Serbia of selling arms to Ukraine used to kill the Russians.”

The ruling said that because of those lies, offences and insults on the reputation and honour, the court ordered the Informer editor to pay Dragan Djilas 1,700 Euro.

In the legal reasoning, the court obliged Vuciccevic to pay an additional 1.700 Euro since “that kind of reporting is a vulgar insult and the violation of all regulations and standards of journalism.”

SSP also said that the Belgrade First Basic Court ruled “almost at the same time, that Vesic should pay Djilas some 900 Euro due to damage to reputation and honour by unfoundedly accusing Djilas and his people in an interview, of stealing eight million Euro, SSP said.

Djilas has so far won many lawsuits against the authorities and media loyal to them and always donated the money to humanitarian organisations.