Bosnia upholds first LGBTQ hate speech conviction

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - Bosnia's first conviction for discrimination against the LGBTQ community has been confirmed, marking a "significant step" for the country, a rights group said Monday.

After a lengthy court case, a Bosnian court upheld the conviction of a former member of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly for hate speech over comments made ahead of the country's first Pride parade in 2019.

The court ruled that Samra Cosovic Hajdarevic had committed hate speech for comments she posted online.

"I wish these people would be isolated and kept as far away as possible from our children and society," she posted in April 2019.

"Let them go elsewhere and create their own city, country, laws, and rights that no one will challenge. But here, NO!"

Sued by the Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC), a women's and LGBTQ rights organisation, Cosovic Hajdarevic was initially convicted in 2022 by a Sarajevo municipal court.

A member of parliament for the SDA, the country's main Bosniak party, Hajdarevic then appealed to the cantonal court.

But Dzenana Hadziomerovic, a lawyer for the SOC, said the recent decision fully upheld the original ruling.

"This ruling represents a significant step forward in the protection of human rights," Hadziomerovic said.

Under the order, Cosovic Hajdarevic will have to publish the judgment in two newspapers and pay court costs, the SOC told AFP.

After the first Pride march, which took place under heavy police protection, annual parades continue and are no longer considered high-risk events.

But progress on broader rights remains slow, according to SOC.

In its 2024 annual report, the NGO noted that Bosnia's LGBTQ community still faces "social hostility and regressive policies".