The city administration of Zagreb declared on Thursday that it would not comment further on the decision of the Supreme Court, which overturned the judgement of the Zagreb District Court on the banners of the anti-abortion march "Walk for Life". Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic explained that the city administration is firmly committed to women's rights.

“The associations In the Name of the Family and Vigilare have informed the public that the Supreme Court has overturned the decision of the District Court in favour of the City of Zagreb in the case of the Walk for Life flags and ordered a retrial. The city will comment in detail on the judgement as soon as it receives it,” the city administration said in a statement.

“The Supreme Court’s decision will not discourage us in our efforts to defend the constitutionally guaranteed rights of women. We believe that we will ultimately win this lawsuit against the lawsuit filed by In the Name of the Family, just as we won in the case of stay-at-home parent scheme,” Mayor Tomasevic said.

The city administration recalled that in January this year, the District Court confirmed the city administration’s position that the organisers of the “Walk for Life” rally had not been discriminated against when the mayor withheld consent for display of “Walk for Life” banners.

Nothing to do with the freedom of expression

The mayor has made it very clear that displaying the flags of various events on the city’s flagpoles has nothing to do with the right to protest and freedom of expression, the city administration said.

The mayor has stressed on several occasions that the organisers have held their rally, but that flags can only be flown on the city’s flagpoles for events that are co-organised by the city and supported by the democratically elected city government and are in line with the city government’s current policy, which is not the case with the “Walk for Life” rally calling for a ban on abortion, the city administration said.

The “Walk for Life” is an annual event that has been taking place in several Croatian cities since 2016 and promotes the belief that human life begins at conception and ends with natural death. After winning the local election, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic refused to authorise the display of “Walk for Life” banners on the city’s flagpoles.

He explained that he did not agree with the aims of the “Walk for Life” and could not support such events, which he had clearly stated during his election campaign. This led to a lawsuit by the religious conservative groups In the Name of the Family and Vigilare.