Serbian Constitutional Court found unconstitutional the fines introduced by law against media

The Serbian Constitutional Court of Serbia ruled that the big money fines introduces against media by Serbia’s media law are unconstitutional, according to B92.

The court decided that the fines were unconstitutional because they violated media freedom and freedom of expression. Those monetary fines were introduced by decrees of the Law on Amendments and Additions to the Law on Public Information.

Also, the instance said that the obligation to enter into the register of public organs was not in violation of the Constitution or international law, but it considered the decree which connected entering the register and a ban of publishing as unconstitutional.

“The threat of heavy fines could bring into question the survival of the media, and even more dangerously, they could lead to self-censorship, because neither the founder nor those employed in the media will be free from wondering whether they will be threatened by a fine for something that ought to be said freely,” said Judge Vesna Ilić-Prelić, quoted by B92.