Serb journalists win Euro rights ruling in insult case

(STRASBOURG) - Two Serbian journalists convicted of insult and defamation won a judges' ruling Tuesday at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Zeljko Bodrozic and Vladislav Vujin published stories in 2003 and 2004 which were either satirical or used harsh language, but fines which could have translated into jail terms limited their freedom of expression, judges said.

The stories, about a lawyer and a controversial historian, appeared in the weekly Kikindske newspaper in the northern town of Kikinda.

A first article criticised criminal convictions previously given to several journalists for defamation.

In particular, it referred to a well-known local lawyer as a "blonde" and displayed a photo of a blonde woman in underwear next to an anagram of the lawyer's name.

The seven judges at the Strasbourg hearing found that while the article on the lawyer was "somewhat mocking," overall it "could not have been understood as a gratuitous personal insult on the lawyer.

"In addition, the domestic courts' conclusion that comparing an adult man to a blonde woman had been an attack on the integrity and dignity of men had been unacceptable," the judges said.

In raising the case of fellow journalists being convicted of defamation, the article in fact touched on a subject of "general public interest," the judges said.

The second article branded a historian an "idiot" and "a fascist" for his views expressed on television about national minorities.

The judges said harsh language was used, but this had been in reaction to "the provocative interview given by the historian in the context of free debate on an issue of general interest."

Both journalists were found guilty by the Serbian courts of insult, and Bodrozic of defamation, and fined more than 150 euros (210 dollars). Had they been unable to pay the fines, the men could have been jailed.