The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, spoke today with the representatives of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) on the work this independent institution did so far to protect victims of trafficking and on the planned activities of the Protector of Citizens as the National Rapporteur in the field of Human Trafficking.

Jelena Stojanović, Deputy Protector of Citizens also attended the meeting with the GRETA, which was held within the third evaluation round of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, adopted by the Council of Europe in 2005, has set out as the main goals of the signatories the prevention and combat of trafficking in human beings, the protection of human rights of the victims of the trafficking, and improving international cooperation in combating trafficking in human beings.

Today, on 17 May - International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, Zoran Pašalić, the Protector of Citizens, pointed out that LGBTI persons in the Republic of Serbia cannot completely exercise all their rights and that amendments to multiple laws are necessary in order to provide them with comprehensive systemic protection.

As a sign of support to LGBTI persons, the Deputy Protector of Citizens for Gender Equality with the associates from the Sector displayed the flags of the LGBT population down the building of the Institution of the Protector Citizens.

“A significant progress in the systemic protection of LGBTI persons has been made last year through the amendments of the Law on Gender Equality and on the prohibition of discrimination banning discrimination on the grounds of gender characteristics. However, it is necessary to amend several more laws in order to improve their position qualitatively”, Pašalić said.

The Protector of Citizens also stated that amendments to the Criminal Code should treat criminal offenses committed on the grounds of sexual orientation as acts of racism and intolerance, and amendments to the Law on Free Legal Aid should include the LGBTI persons in the category of beneficiaries in a vulnerable position.

Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, stated that determining individual responsibility for spreading hate speech and for posting threats and insults on the Internet, as an adequate sanction for such behavior, should be part of the systemic fight against these negative phenomena in our society.

"Every day, in public space, especially on social networks, we witness verbal attacks, aggression, intolerance, and insults. Because of that, and above all because of the protection of journalists from threats and attacks, several months ago I proposed amendments to the Law on Public Order and Peace, which would punish threats and insults on social networks as a misdemeanor," Pašalić said.

The misdemeanor procedure in cases of spreading hate speech, threats, and verbal attacks on social networks would, as I proposed, be initiated in a short period, and the sentence would be executed immediately after the verdict was pronounced, Pašalić emphasized.

"The Law on Prohibition of Discrimination prohibits the expression of ideas, information, and opinions that incite hatred and violence in public media and places accessible to the public, based on the individual's personal traits. The proposed amendments to the Law on Public Order and Peace would sanction attacks, insults, and violence on social networks on any grounds, including hate speech. In this way, the fight against hate speech would be made more efficient", said Pašalić.

The Protector of Citizens reiterated that the changes he proposed refer to the definition of offenses committed against people who perform journalistic work, and the sanctioning of illegal behavior towards other citizens on social networks.
Pašalić added that by introducing misdemeanor sanctions for unacceptable behavior on social networks, Serbia would become one of the European countries that in recent years have introduced penalties for spreading hate speech on the Internet with special laws or amendments to the existing ones.

The Protector of Citizens attended the presentation of the joint campaign of the European Union and the Council of Europe entitled "Block the hatred. Share the love!” on Thursday in Belgrade.

On the occasion of 3rd May – the World Press Freedom Day, the Protector of Citizens Zoran Pašalić stated that journalists in Serbia are most often exposed to economic and legal pressures, as well as verbal, and in some cases physical attacks, and stated that he initiated legal changes that would make insults and attacks on journalists in public space punishable not only as a criminal act, but also a misdemeanour.

"Journalists are most exposed to economic pressures, i.e., economic uncertainty, caused by low monthly incomes and unregulated employment status. The economic pressures have been further intensified by strategic actions against public participation, better known as SLAPP lawsuits, which further intimidate journalists and the media and further deplete them economically, through high compensation claims", Pašalić said.

Considering that numerous pressures and attacks on journalists do not fall into the domain of criminal acts and that it is necessary to provide legal protection for media workers, Pašalić states that he initiated amendments to the Law on Public Peace and Order, which would sanction insults against journalists on social networks as a misdemeanour.

"These amendments refer to the definition of offenses committed against persons who perform journalistic work, as well as to the sanctioning of undesirable behaviour towards other citizens on social networks. Proposals for the amendments were submitted to the Working Group for the Security and Protection of Journalists of the Government of Serbia, which the Protector of Citizens is a member of", said Pašalić.

Pašalić reminds that economic pressures on journalists are a special part of the unique database on attacks and pressures on journalists prepared by the Protector of Citizens in cooperation with ten journalists' associations, unions and trade unions.