Serbia: The High Court issues a historic ruling. "Šiptar", an offensive term

Serbia: The High Court issues a historic ruling. "Šiptar", an offensive term

 Not even a week passes without finding in the Serbian media the discriminatory and ultranationalist word 'Šiptar', a definition that normally defines the Albanians (in Albanian 'shqiptar').

Šiptar - an offensive term, through which Serbian journalists and politicians - not just the nationalists - want to frustrate the Albanians, describing them as a 'lower race'.

The Šiptari are guilty of everything: the Šiptari plans to declare war on Serbia, the Šiptiari buy the properties of the Serbians, the Šiptari want to persecute the Serbs of Kosovo; practically every day, the Šiptari, always plan something against Serbia.

This rhetoric dominates the headlines of newspapers like 'Informer' or 'Kurir', as well as the various para-political sites that dominate the web. Most of these media are under the control of Aleksandar Vuçic, who was the Minister of Comunicationf of Slobodan Milosevic rule in the 1990s.

The ruling of the Serbian High Court

Now, the Belgrade High Court has made a very important decision against the use of the word 'Šiptar'.

In early 2017, the 'Informer' newspaper had heavily accused several activists of the youth initiative for human rights: the latter were labeled fascists and enemies of Serbia, as they had supported the Šiptari, in this case those of Kosovo.

In the High Court verdict, among other things, it is specified that the word 'Šiptar' is considered politically incorrect and offensive content for the members of the Albanian ethnic group in Kosovo.
Serbia: The High Court issues a historic ruling. "Šiptar", an offensive term
Furthermore, the High Court specifies that calling a Serbian 'Šiptar' is comparable to when you label someone who fights Serb national interests. For this cause the Court punished the daily 'Informer' who will also have to pay for accusing one of the human rights activists.

In fact, 'Informer' will have to pay about 840 euros (100,000 Serbian denarii) for image damage and 595 euros (71,000 Serbian denarii) for court costs, to Anit Mitiq, one of the activists criticized by the newspaper. This verdict of the Belgrade High Court is the first in Serbian history that identifies the term 'Šiptar' as offensive and discriminatory.
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