"We support amendments to law to make cyber violence criminal offense": Judges and Prosecutors of Serbia

The suicide of Mladen Dulic, who was bullied and ridiculed on social networks before he took his own life, has shaken the region, and this tragedy brought up the issue of violence committed in the digital space, which is still not recognized as a crime that can be prosecuted ex officio

Photo: Shutterstock

After Mladen Dulic, a 22-year-old from Laktasi in the Serb Republic (RS, Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina) committed suicide after being exposed to cyberbullying - suspected to have happened after a video taken of him during a job interview, without his knowledge, was published on social networks - the Association of Judges and Prosecutors of Serbia spoke out in favor of an initiative to change the law in this country and introduce the crime of cyber violence.

The suicide of Mladen Dulic, who was bullied and ridiculed on social networks before he took his own life, has shaken the region, and this tragedy opened up the issue of violence committed in the digital space, which is still not recognized as a crime that can be prosecuted ex officio.

The Association of Judges and Prosecutors issued a statement on this occasion, which we are carrying in full.

"The Association of Judges and Prosecutors (UST) will support any form of suppression of violence, including that occurring on the internet, because it believes that it is necessary for competent authorities, as well as professional associations that advocate for the rule of law, to contribute to the suppression of negative social phenomena. The association believes that the Ministry of Justice, authorized to make proposals, is the place to which the initiative should be sent, in order to form a working group that will analyze the situation and propose appropriate legal solutions."

Added the statement:

"At the same time, the Association of Judges and Prosecutors of Serbia is ready to join the work of that working group at the professional level, if it is formed."

(Telegraf.rs)