In a formal recommendation dated March 24, 2025, the Commissioner cited concerns that the mural could incite hatred and discrimination, particularly against members of the Albanian ethnic minority in Serbia. The Commissioner emphasized that glorifying a person convicted of serious violations of international humanitarian law—currently serving a long prison sentence—goes against the mission and values of public cultural institutions.
The Commissioner further stated that such actions risk retraumatizing victims and their families, and could worsen interethnic relations in the country. The recommendation falls under the Commissioner’s authority outlined in Article 33, Item 9 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination.
The decision also referenced a previous case in which the Belgrade Municipal Inspection in 2021 ordered the removal of a mural honoring Ratko Mladić, another convicted war criminal. After a campaign of mapping murals and graffiti of Mladic in 10 towns in Serbia, in March 2023 YIHR filed over 300 requests for the removal of murals dedicated to war criminals—over 250 of which were in Belgrade alone.
The Commissioner based their recommendation on the final judgment from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which in January 2014 convicted Pavković and three other senior officials of Serbia and the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity in Kosovo during 1999. YIHR included that ruling in their complaint. The Commissioner also pointed to European legal standards, which view the glorification of convicted war criminals through murals, statues, and street names as a form of denial and hate speech—one that undermines international justice and dismisses the suffering of victims.
The Ćuprija Cultural Institution has a deadline until May 2 to inform the Commissioner about steps taken to implement the recommended measures and ensure protection from discrimination.
You can read YIHR’s complaint in BHS language from March 19 [here], and the Commissioner’s set of recommendations in BHS language from March 24 2025 [here].
