First person charged for hate crime during Split gay pride parade
01/12/2011
Submitted by
ILGA-Europe
Original source: http://www.croatiantimes.com/news..._crime_during_Split_gay_pride_parade
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A court in Split has issued the first guilty verdict in the case of hate crimes committed during the gay pride parade in this coastal Croatian town earlier this year.
Damir Roso, 34, received a suspended sentence of one year with a trial period of three for violent behaviour and the violation of the right to assembly. During the gay pride parade, Roso yelled "Kill the fag, motherfu…, all of you should be killed," from a bench, all of which was recorded on tape.
Roso said he did not feel guilty, but he admitted he had yelled at the participants of the parade carried away by the crowds that behaved in the same way as he had done. He said, however, he was sorry for what he had shouted as he had nothing against people of different sexual orientation. He also said he had no problems with a friend of his who had openly declared himself as gay.
"I am a member of Torcida [Split football club Hajduk’s fan club] and we made plans to go to the Riva as though we were going to the game. That’s how we were behaving – just like we yell at the opponents at the games, we also yelled at the protesters. I am sorry and I do regret it, I was not aware of the gravity of the situation, I saw everything as a football match and not as protest against homosexuals," Roso said in his defence.
This, however, was not enough for the court who found Roso guilty on both account, but took his regret and good behaviour in trial as mediating circumstance.
Twenty-three people were charged with hate crimes during the gay pride parade in Split that turned violent. In the end, some 14 people were indicted while five are still under investigation. Roso’s verdict is the first sentence in these cases.
The prosecution of crimes relating to the expression of hatred towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) individuals is under the special supervision of the European Commission, daily Jutarnji List writes.
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A court in Split has issued the first guilty verdict in the case of hate crimes committed during the gay pride parade in this coastal Croatian town earlier this year.
Damir Roso, 34, received a suspended sentence of one year with a trial period of three for violent behaviour and the violation of the right to assembly. During the gay pride parade, Roso yelled "Kill the fag, motherfu…, all of you should be killed," from a bench, all of which was recorded on tape.
Roso said he did not feel guilty, but he admitted he had yelled at the participants of the parade carried away by the crowds that behaved in the same way as he had done. He said, however, he was sorry for what he had shouted as he had nothing against people of different sexual orientation. He also said he had no problems with a friend of his who had openly declared himself as gay.
"I am a member of Torcida [Split football club Hajduk’s fan club] and we made plans to go to the Riva as though we were going to the game. That’s how we were behaving – just like we yell at the opponents at the games, we also yelled at the protesters. I am sorry and I do regret it, I was not aware of the gravity of the situation, I saw everything as a football match and not as protest against homosexuals," Roso said in his defence.
This, however, was not enough for the court who found Roso guilty on both account, but took his regret and good behaviour in trial as mediating circumstance.
Twenty-three people were charged with hate crimes during the gay pride parade in Split that turned violent. In the end, some 14 people were indicted while five are still under investigation. Roso’s verdict is the first sentence in these cases.
The prosecution of crimes relating to the expression of hatred towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) individuals is under the special supervision of the European Commission, daily Jutarnji List writes.
