prijava
SARAJEVO, April 26 (FENA) - The Municipal Court in Sarajevo issued a first instance verdict on April 4 this year, which for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed discrimination against LGBTI people, Sarajevo Open Center announced today at the press conference.
Darko Pandurević from the Sarajevo Open Center said that the verdict refers to a post of the then delegate of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, Samra Ćosović Hajdarević, on her Facebook profile.
Reacting to the announcement of the organizers of the First Pride March of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she reacted with her status, which resonated with the public and was transmitted by a number of print and electronic media.
Pandurević said that she then wrote in her post: “The state has no right to complain until it improves the state of mind of its people. A small group of fifteen activists from Prijedor, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Bijeljina, Tuzla and other parts of BiH gained great importance and significance. Fifteen of them are enough to launch an initiative and organize the so-called pride parades aimed at ruining the state and its people. Everyone has the right to life as they wish, so we also have the right to choose who we want to live with. I want people like this to isolate themselves and stay away from our children and society. Let them go somewhere else and make themselves a city, a state, laws and their own rights that no one will dispute. But NOT here!”.
The lawyer who represented SOC, Dženana Hadžiomerović, emphasized that the verdict is first instance and that it is not final and legally binding.
“For the first time, a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina determined the existence of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender characteristics. It has been almost 13 years since the first verdict since 2009, when sexual orientation and gender identity were introduced as prohibited grounds through the said Law. Also, freedom of speech is not absolute and people must be aware of the messages and the consequences of such messages that they broadcast to the public,” said Hadžiomerović.
She added that criticism or negative comments about LGBTI people and the Pride Parade may be freedom of speech, but publicly calling for the isolation, segregation and removal of individuals from society because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender characteristics is a clear hate speech.
Member of the Organizing Committee of BiH Pride March Lejla Huremović said that this verdict is very important because it has been proven that spreading hate speech and calling for violence against LGBTIQ people in the online sphere (social networks) can expand and affect the quality of life of LGBTIQ people, or can lead to physical violence.
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