Väite Patrian panssarivaunukauppaan liittyvästä Kroatian presidentin saamasta lahjuksesta ei loukannut presidentin oikeutta yksityiselämään

No violation of former President of Croatia’s rights in online news article alleging his possible involvement in bribery

In the Chamber judgment in the case of Mesić v. Croatia (no. 2) (application no. 45066/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, by five votes to two, that there had been:

• no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned an article published in February 2015 by an Internet news portal Dnevno.hr suggesting that the applicant, a former President of Croatia, had, during his term of office, been offered or taken bribes in relation to the procurement of armoured vehicles for the Croatian army from the Finnish company Patria. Mr Mesić complained that by dismissing his civil action for compensation, the domestic courts had failed to protect his reputation in violation of his right torespect for private life.

The Court noted that the article had not targeted Mr Mesic’s private life but had referred to his conduct in the exercise of his official duties and, in reporting what had been stated in official documents, had not unambiguously stated that he had participated in criminal activities. In particular, it found that the Croatian courts had struck a fair balance between the former president’s right to respect for his private life and the right of the news portal to freedom of expression.

Press release