The Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) said on Thursday that the verdict against journalist Davorka Blazevic, who was ordered to pay 75,000 kuna in damages and costs to Supreme Court judge Senka Klaric-Baranovic for "causing harm to her honour and reputation", was scandalous and a blow to the profession of journalism.

“The verdict against our colleague Blazevic, by whom the HND firmly stands, once again shows the manipulation of law, whereby ‘mental anguish’ has become a lucrative business to the detriment of those working in the public interest,” HND chairman Hrvoje Zovko said in the press release.

He also warned that Croatia was recognised in Europe as the most problematic country in terms of SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) and said that the HND would not give up on the demand to decriminalise all acts against honour and reputation.

“Such verdicts also represent a continuation of intimidation and ultimately the financial destruction of journalists,” Zovko underscored.

This was a retrial against journalist Blazevic which was initiated by judge Klaric-Baranovic due to an article published in 2015 on the website Tris.com, on which the journalist commented on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Fimi Media case, the HND said in the press release.

Blazevic said that the verdict was a classic example of disciplining critical journalism, silencing journalists with high fines, but also a clear message to the media that judges shouldn’t be criticised because they are untouchable.

“The verdict is shameless, unjust, censorial and akin to the most rigid undemocratic systems,” she said.

She underscored that the new verdict, without any new evidence that would be presented in court, was completely opposite to the previous one in which she had been acquitted.

“And now I’m being asked to pay 75,000 kuna for ‘mental anguish’ and the costs of the proceedings, which is a total of over 100,000 kuna! What are our courts doing? How are such big differences possible,” Blazevic asked in HND’s statement.

The HND said that the judge had also asked the journalist for an even larger amount of  at total of 150,000 kuna in damages, but the court rejected part of the lawsuit in the amount of 75,000 kuna as unfounded. They recalled that this was a retrial, after the County Court in Zagreb revoked the first instance decision and returned the case to the court in Sibenik.