Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung e.V. Rule of Law Programme South East Europe April 2020 www.kas.de/rlpsee Rule of Law- South East Europe Press Review April 2020 Disclaimer: This Press Review is issued for general information purpose only and is based on open media sources and those available through subscription. Articles selected for this review are shortened from the original or are reproduced as originally published. Inclusion of articles in this Press Review does not imply accuracy of the content or endorsement by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung e.V. (KAS) or its regional programme “KAS Rule of Law Programme South East Europe” Content Regional ..................................................................................................................... 4 COVID-19 and Domestic Abuse: When Home is not the Safest Place ........................ 4 Some Balkan States Waging ‘Crusade’ Against Media, Report Warns ....................... 8 After the Pandemic: Perils and Promise for Western Balkans ................................ 11 Albania .................................................................................................................... 15 Albania’s Planned Jail Terms for Curfew Breakers Spark Protests ......................... 15 Law Committee Approves Criminal Code Changes ................................................... 16 President Decrees Changes in Criminal Code ............................................................ 17 Vetting between Provisional Decision of European Supreme Court and Venice 2020 ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Dvorani seeks more time as President urged his Resignation as JAC Chair ........... 22 Dvorani Killed the Justice Reform; Krasniqi............................................................... 24 Bosnia and Herzegovina ........................................................................................ 25 Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Coronavirus Curbs on Children and Older People Are Ill- Conceived ...................................................................................................................... 25 Bosnia Trying to Censor Information About Pandemic, Journalists Say ................ 28 Bosnia May Seek Arbitration on Croatia Nuclear Waste Dispute ........................... 30 Srebrenica Genocide Denial Law Remains a Non-Starter in Bosnia ....................... 31 Bulgaria ................................................................................................................... 34 Bulgarian prosecutors issue nationwide search warrant for Ataka leader Siderov ........................................................................................................................................ 34 720 pre-trial proceedings in Bulgaria for violating emergency regulations against coronavirus ................................................................................................................... 35 Prosecutor-General: Three charged over assault of Bulgarian Editor-in-Chief ...... 36 Croatia ..................................................................................................................... 37 Croatia Charges Right-Wingers for Pro-Priest Protest .............................................. 37 Ethnic Intolerance, Hate Speech Persists in Croatia: Report ................................... 39 Kosovo ..................................................................................................................... 40 Kosovo Govt Tightens Freedom of Movement Restrictions ..................................... 40 Moldova ................................................................................................................... 42 Moldovan authorities are flirting with further reining in media freedoms as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens ....................................................................................... 42 Absence of a quorum represents failed attempt by Government to assume responsibility, CC .......................................................................................................... 44 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. 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Rule of Law Press Review April 2020 2 2 Domestic aggressors will be monitored electronically ............................................ 46 Constitutional Court has a new president ................................................................. 47 CC suspends €200m lending agreement with Russia ................................................ 48 PPPDA requests CC to determine constitutionality of state of emergency ........... 49 Pandemic Fires Hate Speech in Moldova ................................................................... 50 Montenegro ............................................................................................................ 52 Montenegro Govt Accused of Flouting Constitution Amid Crisis ............................ 52 Montenegro Medic Arrested for Publishing List of Coronavirus Patients .............. 54 Montenegro Detains Opposition Activist Over Fake News About President ......... 56 Montenegro Loosens Rules on National Flags, but Debate Still Rages ................... 57 Montenegro Warned about Poor Conditions in Remand Prisons ............................ 59 Serbian Bishop Grilled in Montenegro Over Illicit Funeral ...................................... 61 North Macedonia ................................................................................................... 63 North Macedonia Sends Election-Riggers to Jail ....................................................... 63 Authorities in the Balkan country say they will use “all tools and possibilities” to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus ................................................................. 65 Court to Check North Macedonia’s Flood of Govt Decrees ...................................... 67 North Macedonia’s State of Emergency Weakens Institutions’ Transparency ...... 69 Romania .................................................................................................................. 71 Over 9,100 contraventional sanctions issued to people not observing movement restrictions .................................................................................................................... 71 Bribe is holding on tight in Romania despite the COVID-19 pandemic ................... 72 Crime rate during the Coronavirus lockdown: Felonies down, domestic violence and abuse up ................................................................................................................. 74 The Convict and Coronavirus: Romania’s Million-Mask Mess .................................. 75 Serbia ....................................................................................................................... 80 Serbian Reporter’s Arrest Over Pandemic Article Draws PM’s Apology ................. 80 Serbian electoral reform: Improved national minority representation or tactical move against boycott? ................................................................................................. 82 Human rights in Serbia at the time of the pandemic: Violation or justified limitation? ..................................................................................................................... 87 MEPs warn Várhelyi of serious situation in Serbia in regard to human rights ...... 91 New low for parliamentary democracy in Serbia ..................................................... 93 Sources .................................................................................................................... 97 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. Rule of Law Press Review April 2020 3 3 Regional COVID-19 and Domestic Abuse: When Home is not the Safest Place https://balkaninsight.com/2020/04/21/covid-19-and-domestic-abuse-when-home-is-not-the-safest-place/ April 21, 2020 – Xhorxhina Bami, Nedim Dervisbegovic, Milica Stojanovic, Sinisa Jakov Marusic, Madalin Necsutu, Samir Kajosevic, Anja Vladisavljevic, Marcel Gascón Barberá and Svetoslav Todorov The evidence suggests rates of domestic abuse are up since states in the Balkans began imposing strict limitations on movement in the fight against COVID-19. “Before the quarantine he would insult me, use slurs, tell me I’m a whore, that I’m kissing other men. But he had never hit me, not until now… Last weekend he hit me hard in the head, with his fist, for the first time.” […] Movement restrictions, quarantines and, in some cases like Serbia, curfews have helped to slow the spread of COVID-19. But they have worsened the plight of many women already the victims of domestic abuse, experts and rights organisations say. Ivana Stoimenovska, a psychologist and family councillor in North Macedonia, said that enforced isolation had vastly increased the risk of violence in the home. “All those who live in dysfunctional families in these times of self-isolation are at greater risk of violence because the additional stress, frustration and tension that the isolation brings can boost the dysfunctional patterns of behaviour among family members or abusive partners,” Stoimenovska told BIRN. “Thus a violent person can become even more violent”. Figures point to rise in domestic violence While official statistics in some Balkan countries point to a rise in domestic violence, experts and NGOs say the data rarely reflect the true scale of the problem given victims often do not report incidents and some do not even recognise