The statement by Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Zoran Milanovic that lifting the immunity of SDP MP Zeljko Jovanovic is a small coup "belongs in the sphere of science fiction," the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Vladimir Seks of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), said on Friday.
"Milanovic shows that he doesn't know the ABC's of constitutional law or the political system," Seks told reporters.
When asked why the ruling coalition decided for the first time in 20 years to make a precedent and strip an MP of immunity from prosecution for expressing their opinion, Seks said it was because Jovanovic had been sued for slander, which he said qualifies as a hate crime under the new Penal Code. He added that this was why immunity was not lifted in previous such cases.
Seks said that the HDZ had filed a lawsuit against Jovanovic not for what he had said in Parliament but for his slanderous speeches outside of it.
When asked about a recent statement by HDZ member Josip Djakic that the opposition coalition was forming a Serb-dominated government, Seks said that that statement was not questionable because it did not constitute a hate crime.
"When a political party and its leadership is repeatedly called a criminal and traitorous organisation and when an entire party, in this case the HDZ, is described as a candidate for Remetinec (prison), then it's a hate crime," Seks said, adding that the matter would be settled by a court.
