Belgrade, December 22nd, 2020

PUBLIC STATEMENT

The Forming Of Group 46

Forum for Security and Democracy has been observing the recent escalation of political dialogue in Serbia with great concern, and is wary of initiatives coming from various segments of society and which are, either implicitly or explicitly, aimed at imposing limitations to the right of free speech which is guaranteed by the Constitution. The most recent such attack against the constitutional rights of all the people of Serbia is evident in the proposal to incriminate “defamation” of family members of public officials as a criminal offense with ex officio prosecution and recommended Draconian prison sentences, as well as last week’s public attacks against Sonja Biserko, Ivo Viskovic, etc.

Forum for Security and Democracy views these proposals and excesses as a danger to the further development of democracy in Serbia and underlines that all initiatives which seek to impose illegitimate restrictions to free speech rights are directly opposed to the fundamental objectives of our organization.

For this reason Forum for Security and Democracy wishes to inform the public that, in order to more efficiently oppose these and similar attacks against the right of all citizens of Serbia to freely express ideas and spread information that is proscribed by the Constitution, that we have initiated the formation of Group 46. This group will be solely dedicated to protecting this constitutional right, proscribed by Article 46 of the Constitution of Serbia, publicly propagating its significance for the development of a democratic society, the rule of law, and the culture of dialogue. Through its work Group 46 will analyze the current legal framework, social practices and suggest systematic solutions that will guarantee this fundamental right to all citizens of Serbia. We will be informing the public about further developments regarding this group on a regular basis.