Serbian Minister Demands Payout for Media 'Defamation'

At a hearing at Belgrade's Higher Court on Tuesday, interior minister Nebojsa Stefanovic demanded 300,000 dinars (2,437 euros) in compensation after bringing a defamation case against NIN journalist Sandra Petrusic, editor-in-chief Milan Culibrk and the weekly news magazine itself.

Stefanovic said he was entitled to the compensation because of the damage to his career and personal reputation caused by Petrusic's article accusing him of being responsible for the interior ministry and police's failure to act during nocturnal demolitions carried out by masked men in Belgrade's Savamala district in April this year.

"I do not dispute the right to thought and to the expression of opinions, but the text says that I directly assisted in the commission of the offence, which is in itself a criminal offence," Stefanovic said.

In his law suit, which he filed as a private individual, Stefanovic claimed that the article published on the front page of NIN under the title "Nebojsa Stefanovic, the Phantom of Savamala", damaged his personal and professional honour and his reputation.

He further claimed that NIN, journalist Stefanovic and editor Culibrk violated the presumption of innocence by publishing false information that was not proved in the story, thus breaching the law on public information and contravening the public interest.

Culibrk said that the report, published in June this year, was not intended to slur anyone, but to urge the authorities to take responsibility for failing to resolve the case.

Patrusic insisted meanwhile that the article and headline were not intended to say that Stefanovic demolished the buildings in Savamala, but to point out that although he made public statements on investigations in...