BDK Advokati has successfully represented Satko Mujagic, Fikret Alic, and the Association of Camp Inmates Kozarac in a dispute against the Serbian REM electronic media regulator before the Administrative Court in Belgrade.
The dispute arose following events in March 2021, when, according to the firm, "plaintiffs Satko Mujagic, Fikret Alic, and the Association of Camp Inmates Kozarac complained to REM regarding statements made in Happy TV’s morning show 'Good morning, Serbia' on February 22, 2021. In the program, the host Milomir Maric and his guest, movie director Predrag Antonijevic, stated that the camps in the Prijedor area (in Bosnia and Herzegovina, controlled by the Bosnian Serb army during the 1992-1995 war) were 'open' and served for people to seek shelter in them, and that reporting on the camps was part of 'world-wide propaganda' against Serbs."
According to BDK Advokati, "on May 10, 2021, REM discontinued the proceedings against Happy TV, initiated two months earlier by former prisoners of the concentration camps Omarska, Keraterm, and Trnopolje [...] REM stated that it was unable to reach a majority of votes either in favor or against Happy TV."
"The judgment of the Administrative Court, dated October 27, 2023, but delivered to the parties in February 2024, is notable because it establishes that REM was not permitted to discontinue the proceedings on the ground that it could not reach a majority of votes," the firm reported. "In addition, the Court found that by preventing the plaintiffs from actively participating in the proceedings, REM breached a series of fundamental principles of administrative proceedings: legality and foreseeability of the proceedings, protection of public interest and the interest of third parties, effectiveness of the proceedings, truthful determination of facts, and protection of the right of the parties to be heard."
The BDK Advokati team included Senior Partner Bogdan Ivanisevic and Senior Associate Relja Radovic.
