Judge Bošnjak Has to Take Responsibility
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The nongovernmental organizations from Vojvodina are appalled but not surprised by the decision of 4th Municipal Court in Belgrade to sentence, in a shameful trial, anti-fascist activist Zoran Petakov from Novi Sad, for his criticism of the actions of Serb Orthodox Church (SPC).
They find the rationale of the decision offered by presiding Judge Miroslav Bošnjaka even more scandalous, for it notes that bishop Irinej of SPC is an “immaculate person” and that Petakov, with his criticism of the bishop and the SPC, insulted all people of Christian faith and the Judge himself, as “person baptized in the Christ`s faith”. - We wander how comes the Courts are not nearly as efficient when trying high dignitaries of the SPC charged with paedophilia, comment the NGOs. They demand from the competent judicial and executive bodies to urgently investigate the scandalous ruling and the past work of Judge Bošnjak, and take the available legal measures against him and those that may have pressured him during the trial proceedings. The sentence, according to Vojvodina`s NGOs, is a clear sign that Serbia returns to the darkest totalitarian times and proof that SPC took the role of supreme arbiter of fate, life and death of all citizens of Serbia, with full disregard for Constitution and the Law. They point out to the public at the growing body of evidence that factions inside SPC assist, in a variety of ways, the actions of extremist, clerical-fascist and neonazi groups in Serbia. The NGOs believe that the absurd sentence will be annulled by the Court of Appeals, or the justice will come to its own in front of the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg. However, they wander if that would be true satisfaction for Zoran Petakov and the citizens of Serbia in general. |
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