The Commercial Court in Belgrade has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the publisher of tabloid Kurir against portal KRIK, which was claiming that we are engaging in „unfair competition“ and „damaging the reputation“ of this tabloid. The lawsuit followed after KRIK’s fact-checking portal RasKRIKavanje, which checks the accuracy of information published in Serbian media, found that Kurir had published 163 false, unfounded, or manipulative news stories on its front pages in 2020. The ruling is a first-instance decision and Kurir has the right to appeal.

Author: Jelena Radivojević

In the judgement, judge Ljiljana Stojković emphasized that the allegations in the lawsuit regarding a breach of competition in the media market are inadmissible because the information published on the RasKRIKavanje website does not fall under the remit of the Serbian Law on Trade, which the lawsuit was based on.

“The defendants are not traders and cannot be in a competitive relationship as prescribed by the said law,” concluded the judge.

She also stated that KRIK is “a non-profit organization established for philanthropic work in public interest in the field of journalism.”

The judgment is not final, and the publisher of Kurir, company „Mondo Inc“, has the right to appeal.

The Backstory

In addition to KRIK, Kurir’s 2021 lawsuit also targeted the organizations which have republished our article, those were portal „Cenzolovka“, the daily newspaper „Danas“, citizen association Center for Intercultural Communication, and the portal „Public Service“ („Javni servis“, against which the lawsuit was later withdrawn). The lawsuit also sought a total of 11 million Serbian dinars (approximately 100.000 EUR) in damages from all of us.

For years, our portal RasKRIKavanje (which is a verified member of the International Fact-Checking Network) has been publishing analyses of the front pages of daily newspapers in Serbia, according to evaluation methodology that is made available on the website. Kurir is the only one who sued us because of it.

Kurir is an outlet often used by the Serbian authorities to deal with political opponents or independent journalists, often publishing false and unverified news stories, thereby violating the Serbian Journalist’s Code of Ethics.

RasKRIKavanje has continued to create its yearly analysis, so at the end of last year Kurir filed another lawsuit against KRIK – also for alleged unfair competition and damage to its reputation. This lawsuit also targeted media outlets that republished our analysis and the information that there were at least 122 unfounded, biased, or manipulative news stories on the front pages of Kurir in 2022. In that second lawsuit, Kurir is seeking 11 million dinars in damages.

In recent years, the number of so-called SLAPP lawsuits against KRIK has been increasing – these are lawsuits filed by people in power or close to them, which are initiated solely with the purpose to intimidate journalists and prevent media from publishing new discoveries.

Among those who have initiated proceedings against KRIK and our journalists are the best man of the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, Nikola Petrović; former State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Dijana Hrkalović; the owner of “Jovanjica” who is on trial for growing more than a ton and a half of marijuana, Predrag Koluvija; controversial businessmen Bogoljub Karić and Stanko Subotić, as well as the company “Mineco.”