{"id":49924,"date":"2021-02-10T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=49924"},"modified":"2021-02-10T11:36:08","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T16:36:08","slug":"free-speech-on-trial-in-serbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/free-speech-on-trial-in-serbia","title":{"rendered":"Will free speech again be oppressed in Serbia?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 26 January 2021, a court hearing was held at the Higher Court in Belgrade in the case of Professor Vladimir Dimitrijevi\u0107, on which we reported previously. Witness testimonies were given on both sides, and the hearing was unusually lengthy but held without audience because of the pandemic, since the court room was too small to accommodate all who wanted to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We present here partial statements from the defendant, Prof. Dimitrijevi\u0107<\/a>, and a witness for the defense, Belgrade University Professor Dr. Slobodan Antoni\u0107<\/a>, delivered after the court hearing. Full statements are available on our portal\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Dimitrijevi\u0107:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit against me aims to cover up the most important thing that is happening in our society: the politicization of human sexuality and the alteration of traditional, family values. The story of gender equality was concocted with the idea of \u200b\u200breplacing the equality of biological sexes, which has long since been achieved in every democratic society. Gender equality was invented to introduce a new concept \u2013 that of GENDER \u2013 which wants to convince us that biological sex does not exist, and that it is simply a construct of our will. Thus, today we\u2019re in a situation that we can no longer have males and females, but 74 different genders! Right now, in Canada, you can go to the police and say that you identify as a woman, even though you\u2019re a biological male and have not had a gender reassignment surgery, and you\u2019ll be issued with a new ID which says that you are a woman!<\/p>

All that is happening right now is political homosexuality, as an expression of the reckoning of liberal capitalism with the natural family.<\/p>

I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m defending myself here, but rather that I\u2019m someone who represents the views of the majority of Serbs and of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The totalitarianism of the radical left in the form of communism, which is Godless and anti-family, has now been replaced by the idea of \u200b\u200bpolitical homosexuality and gender-feminism. Just as we once fought against the communist totalitarianism, we must now say NO to this new totalitarianism as well.<\/p>

The examination of the witnesses was thorough. I hope that the court will make an impartial judgement on everything. I do not dispute that my theses presented in my writings can be debated. These texts are not like \u201cred letter days\u201d in the Church calendar; however, a proper place for debate is not the courtroom, but scientific journals, roundtable discussions, internet and the public in general.<\/p>

I sincerely hope that verbal injury will not be brought back to Serbia via this court verdict and that the freedom of opinion will remain one of the basic freedoms in the Serbian society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Antoni\u0107:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many questions have been raised at the hearing, and the judge made an effort to systematically establish all the facts as to whether Dr Dimitrijevi\u0107 had a wish and an intention to offend LGBT persons by certain words and terms.<\/p>

One of these questions is whether the term \u201cIDEOLOGY OF POLITICAL HOMOSEXUALITY\u201d is offensive and whether there is anything in it that is inherently discriminating. The court debated whether the use of certain terms implies an intention on the part of the speaker to offend someone. This term has been present in the Serbian and Russian public discourse and its aim is not to discriminate or to disqualify, but rather to denote a phenomenon. We cannot dictate which terms people will use, unless they are obviously offensive, which is not the case here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The verdict will be made at the final hearing, scheduled for 13 April 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our previous reporting on the lawsuit is available across the iFamNews network:<\/p>\n\n\n\n