Court Dismisses Kokot's Lawsuit Against Minister Stankovic

Belgrade’s First Basic Court has dismissed the private lawsuit that Dusan Kokot, president of the Independent Union of Education Workers of Serbia (NSPRS), filed in July against Education Minister Dejan Vuk Stankovic. The union announced the ruling itself today, September 16, explaining that the court found the lawsuit did not describe the subjective element of the criminal offense it alleged. Kokot has announced he will appeal to the Higher Court in Belgrade.

The lawsuit, filed over what the NSPRS at the time called an aggravated form of the criminal offense of insult, was first reported on July 30. It followed Minister Stankovic’s appearance on Pink television’s morning program on July 5, during which, according to the lawsuit, he said the following about Kokot:

a scoundrel, a dilettante and a moral wretch with no teaching background whatsoever, who runs a union whose goal is to completely destroy education in Serbia

The union made these words public the same day the broadcast aired, and the lawsuit followed a month and a half later.

What the court said in its ruling

The decision to dismiss the lawsuit was issued by single judge Dusica Ristic. According to the NSPRS statement, the judge explained that guilt exists only if the perpetrator was of sound mind, acted with intent, and was aware that the act was prohibited, and that Dusan Kokot’s lawsuit did not describe that subjective element of the offense. The union quoted that part of the ruling directly:

guilt exists only if the perpetrator was of sound mind, acted with intent

The NSPRS was sharply critical of the ruling, stating that it effectively means ministers in Serbia can insult whomever they want, confident they will enjoy the court’s protection. Kokot has announced he will appeal the decision to the Higher Court in Belgrade, moving the dispute to a second instance.

Who is Dusan Kokot, and what did the union ask for

After the minister’s television appearance in July, the NSPRS publicly laid out its president’s biography, apparently in response to the part of his remarks that questioned Kokot’s teaching credentials. According to that statement, Kokot graduated from the Teacher Training Faculty in Sombor, now the Faculty of Education at the University of Novi Sad, holds a degree in primary school teaching, and worked at an elementary school in Zrenjanin before taking up his union role full time.

The union also raised two further points at the time. First, it argued that the minister has no immunity for statements made in television appearances, since immunity, as the union put it, covers opinions expressed or votes cast while carrying out ministerial duties, not media appearances. Second, it asked the prosecution to open a separate investigation into the minister’s claims about networks of non-representative non-governmental organizations and unions, which Stankovic, according to the NSPRS, had accused of aiming to commit criminal offenses, namely the destruction of education.

The Ministry of Education and Minister Stankovic had not publicly responded to the court’s ruling as of this report.

What happens next

The dispute now moves through the regular appeals process. Kokot’s appeal goes to the Higher Court in Belgrade, which will decide whether the First Basic Court’s reasoning, that the lawsuit failed to describe intent, stands or whether the case is sent back for a new ruling. Until then, the first-instance decision is the only one on record, and the dispute between the education minister and the head of one of Serbia’s representative education unions remains open nearly two and a half months after the remarks that triggered it.