Bosniak Party proposes up to 5 years in prison for glorifying war criminals — Criminal Code amendment

Bosniak Party (BS) deputy Jasmin Ćorović has proposed, by amendment to the Draft Law on Amendments to Montenegro’s Criminal Code, that anyone who publicly praises, glorifies, justifies or presents in an affirmative manner a person convicted by final judgment of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes — portraying them as a hero, role model, liberator, defender or moral authority — be punished with imprisonment of six months to five years.

Defending the amendment at a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Political System, Justice and Administration, Ćorović said that praising war criminals, both on social networks and in public space, is behavior that should not be acceptable in a modern state aspiring to EU membership.

He explained that the current Criminal Code contains a norm punishing those who deny genocide, but — after conversations with jurists and lawyers — he noted a subtle distinction: one thing is denying the act of genocide, another is praising a person convicted of genocide. With the amendment, he said, BS aims to fill this legal gap with a clear norm.

Committee members supported the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code, one of whose novelties is the new criminal offense — “aggravated hate speech,” which incites violence or hatred against a person or group.

Justice Minister Bojan Božović responded that he had discussed this initiative in recent days with his colleague Ervin Ibrahimović, who is very interested, and that together they will continue communication with the European Commission on the proposed amendment. He stressed that the EC’s opinion must be awaited — as was done for the previous 20 amendments — so that no wrong step is taken in the final phase of negotiations. Ćorović proposed that the Committee vote on the BS amendment later, after the European Commission’s opinion is received.

Source: Vijesti — https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/politika/826801/bs-predlaze-da-se-do-pet-godina-zatvora-kazne-oni-koji-velicaju-ratni-zlocin