OVERTURNED RULING OF THE HIGHER COURT: LAWSUIT AGAINST VASOVIĆ AND DIREKTNO.RS BACK IN PROCEEDINGS
The Court of Appeal in Belgrade, acting upon the appeal filed by Igor Žeželj, has overturned the ruling of the Higher Court in Belgrade, in which Judge Velibor Barović had initially dismissed the claim in its entirety. The lawsuit was filed against Vasko Vasović, as well as against the editor-in-chief and the publisher of the media outlet Direktno.rs, over an interview published on 9 August 2020 in this outlet under the headline: “Candidate Director Vasović for Direktno: ‘Žeželj Receives Money from the RTS Cash Coffers.’ ”
As a reminder, the article and interview in question contained a series of false, unverified, and offensive statements, according to which Igor Žeželj was falsely and maliciously accused of lying and of “receiving” money from the RTS cash coffers, as well as being directly associated with one of the greatest Nazi war criminals.
The Court of Appeal found that the position of the court of first instance — namely, that the article in question had not violated the honour and reputation of Igor Žeželj — could not be accepted, and therefore remitted the case to the court of first instance for a retrial and a new decision.