12. 10. 2013

NEW INFORMATION LAW WILL INTRODUCE RETRACTION

Belgrade, October 12, 2013 (Vecernje novosti) - The new Law on Public Information that is in preparation will foresee the introduction of "retraction", the president of the Press Council's Complaints Commission, professor Zoran Ivosevic, said at the round table organized by Local Press and Loznicke novosti in Loznica.

"Those who believe they were ‘bashed' in media are less likely to demand corrections and are rather opting for addressing higher courts with lawsuits for compensation of pecuniary damages. Therefore, we believe that before passing the verdict, judges should establish whether persons suing journalists or media have previously demanded correction in the media. If this is the case, if and when the courts find those persons guilty, they may pronounce lesser punishments", Ivosevic said at the event.

According to him, this practically means that a person, whose statement has been truthfully conveyed in the media, has the right to demand retraction if later established that the statement is not correct. If the media fails to make a retraction of such statement, the person is granted the right to file charges against the media.