11 June 2009 | Last month, the Serbian parliament passed a law banning neo-Nazi and fascist organisations from gathering at events and using Nazi symbols. Adopted by parliament on May 29, the law bars those convicted of war crimes before The Hague tribunal or in domestic courts from spreading ideas. The law also prohibits the fuelling of national, religious and racial intolerance.

Any organisation that violates the new law will be erased from Serbia's registry. Individuals found guilty of violating the law will be fined anywhere from 53 euros to 530 euros. In addition, the fine for being a member of a reactionary organisation ranges from 1,000 euros to 10,000 euros.

The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV), a member of the ruling coalition, proposed the law. Nenad Canak, LSV leader, said the new law is "a big step for democracy and for Serbia's path to Europe".

Canak told Serbian media that "all who call for the persecution of a national or religious community or a church will be legally prosecuted," and explained that "Serbia is not a fascist country, but a country that has fascist organisations."

According to Canak, the government should fight such groups in their infancy, before they emerge on the country's social or political scene.

Two days before the law's adoption, an anti-fascist panel was held in Belgrade. Visiting speakers said that fascist ideas have not become an epidemic in Serbia, despite the neo-fascist activities of groups and individuals.

One of the panelists, Dragoljub Micunovic -- a senior official of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) -- said it is an exaggeration to say that neo-Nazism is a threat to Serbian democracy, but added it would be a mistake to underestimate it.

Tomo Zoric, a spokesperson of the state public prosecutor's office, added that "forms of fascism and Nazism in Serbia cannot be described as a pandemic," but said state institutions must suppress those ideas even when promoted by merely a few organisations or individuals.

State agencies did not provide the exact number of active neo-fascist groups in Serbia, but registered activities of the neo-Nazi movements "Blood and Honour" and "National Order".

The public prosecutor's office initiated a procedure in Serbia's Constitutional Court to ban "National Order" activities. Supporters of the organisation stormed into an anti-fascist forum in Novi Sad in late 2005, and began slapping forum participants, while others extended their arms in Nazi salutes.

In October 2007, members clashed with members of NGOs that had organised an anti-fascist rally in Novi Sad. National Order's informal leader Goran Davidovic, also known as "Fuhrer", was sentenced to a year in jail for inciting national and religious hatred.

He fled Serbia before serving time, but was arrested in Italy in April. Serbian authorities are awaiting his extradition.

*This text is courtesy of the Southeast European Times (SET), a web site sponsored by the US Department of Defense in support of UN Resolution 1244, designed to provide an international audience with a portal to a broad range of information about Southeastern Europe. It highlights movement toward greater regional stability and steps governments take toward integration into European institutions. SET also focuses on developments that hinder both terrorist activity and support for terrorism in the region.

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