Bonum Certa Men Certa

English Translation of Ruling Against Željko Topić (EPO VP) in Croatian Court

Judge Marijan Bertalanič Judge Marijan Bertalanič, photo from vecernji.hr



Summary: A look what what statements about EPO Vice-President Topić are deemed appropriate and true, as judged by a Croatian court

A WEEK AFTER Željko Topić had lost his case in his home country, Croatia, we finally got a translation of the ruling. Here it is in English, with formatting added in lieu with the original:



REPUBLIC OF CROATIA Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb Ilica - Selska, Ilica 207

File ref. no.: 7. K-26/11



MINUTES of the public pronouncement of the verdict of 28 January 2015

Present for the Court: Marijan Bertalanić (Presiding Judge - Judge)

(Members of Judicial Panel) Jasminka Popović (Registrar)

Criminal case: Plaintiff: private prosecutor Željko Topić Defendant: Vesna Stilin For the crime from the Article 200/2 and other of the Criminal Code

It has established that the following parties have been present: 1. Plaintiff: private prosecutor – no one, legal representative of the Party, attorney-at-law Tina ÄŒovo 2. Damaged party: 3. Defendant: no one, legal representative of the Party, attorney-at-law Zoran Životić 4. Witness: 5. Expert witness:

It has been established that neither the private plaintiff nor the defendant, who have been duly summoned, have attended today's hearing on the occasion of the public pronouncement of the Court’s decision

Pursuant to Article 356 para. 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code, this hearing for the purposes of the public pronouncement of the Court’s decision will be held in the absence of duly invited private plaintiff and the defendant.

The judge announces

IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA THIS JUDGEMENT



The defendant STILIN Vesna, the daughter of Milan and Ruzica born Bekavac, born on April 21, 1954 in Zagreb, Zagreb, Biokovske stube 4, a citizen of the Republic of Croatia, holder of a diploma in law [LL.B.], married, with no children and no criminal record, is

ACQUITTED OF THE CHARGES



That she, as follows:

1. On 22 November 2010 in the letter sent to the Croatian Government, the Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, which was also sent to the Croatian Parliament (deputy Bianca Matković) for information, as well as to the Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, the Minister of Science, Education and Sports, the Minister of Administration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Finance and Miljenko Pavlaković in HEP, in order to harm the reputation and honor of the private plaintiff by making false statements about him, among other things, stated:

- "Due to the manner in which Topić ignored the aforementioned problems, the writers have suffered financial damage because they should have been receiving compensation for the lending of their books in public libraries for at least the past two years."

- "Željko Topić bought his second term as the Director of the State Intellectual Property Office by paying approximately 500,000.00 HRK to the Ministry of Education and Sports (MZOS) during the period of over two years (from May 2007, when the agreement in question was signed, until July 2009, when Primorac left the Ministry), which I also mention, among other things, in the Constitutional complaint no.: U-III 5023/08, which is still sub judice, and where I have challenged Topic's appointment as the Director ... ..... in fact, I also submitted my nomination for the position of the director of the Office after this person, at the end of 2007, secretly ... abolished my department [of the State Intellectual Property Office] ... "

- "Topic’s decisions concerning procedures relating to PLR, which have caused the writers to suffer financial damage and which led to a serious violation of my right to work, at the same time meet the criteria of the criminal offence of “abuse of position and authority" and "negligent performance of duty" ... "

- That the financial resources of SIPO were used to pay for "the SIPO fleet of six luxury cars, including the supervision of the MZOS, and that he allowed himself to use, in addition to the Audi 6, also a new luxury E-class Mercedes which was hidden among the shelves in the archives in order to cover up the squandering of funds from the state budget."

- "Topić himself has for years provided falsified information about the number of officials working in my department (he claimed that there were twice as many officials working there compared to the actual count) to the Ministry of Administration which forwarded the received information to the Government of the Republic of Croatia"

- "... Because of Topić’s lies and incompetence, which he compensated for by bribery, and due to the lack of supervision, I am obliged to conduct this disgracefully long-drawn out procedure …"

- ".... That for years I have worked overtime managing the previously mentioned department and that I have never, unlike Topić and others, neither received nor asked for any financial compensation"

- "From the perspective of criminal law, Topić’s actions in this case meet the criteria of criminal offences: negligent performance of duty, abuse of office, abuse in performance of duties, discrimination, violation of the right to work and other labor rights and corruption ... "

- "If the supervisory bodies had conducted the due administrative control of the Office, i.e. of Mr. Topić, and criminally prosecuted him, he would have been dismissed from his position at the beginning of 2008. The announced reconstruction of the Government should also have entailed the dismissal of Mr. Topić, as the disclosure of this information in public would certainly harm the Government."

all of which affected the honor and reputation of the private plaintiff,

that is, in the described manner, she made a false claim which could damage the honor of the other person as the defamation became accessible to a large number of persons,

2. On 22 November 2010 in the letter sent to the Croatian Government, the Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, which was also sent to the Croatian Parliament (deputy Bianca Matković) for information, as well as to the Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, the Minister of Science, Education and Sports, the Minister of Administration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Finance and Miljenko Pavlaković in HEP, in order to belittle and insult the private plaintiff, among other things she stated:

- "In the last conversation with Topić (April 2008) in response to my inquiry about what was going to happen with the PLR (due to my dismissal), Topic answered that it was my personal thing. It simply cannot be my personal thing and such a reaction is completely incompetent, which should not come as a surprise, as the person in question completed his education in another country (economist from Bosnia) and has never passed the professional state exam in Croatia",

which offended the private plaintiff,

that is, she offended the other person as described above due to the insult becoming accessible to a large number of persons,

and therefore, by acting in the previously described manner, she committed the crime against honor and reputation – by defamation - defined and punishable under Article 200 paragraph 2 of the CC 97, and partly under item 2 the criminal offense against honor and reputation - an insult - described and punishable under Article 199 paragraph 2 of the CC/97, all with the application of Article 60, paragraph 1 of the CC/97.

Pursuant to Article 143 paragraph 3 of the CPA/08 the private plaintiff is obliged to reimburse the costs of criminal proceedings from the Article 145 paragraph 2 points 1-6 of the CPA/08, all necessary expenses of the defendant and all the necessary expenses and the award of Defendant’s attorney.

The verdict was read in public and briefly explained verbally and the parties were informed of their right to appeal and the response to the appeal.

Completed at 10.50 hours.

Judge:

Registrar:



What's in italics above is most interesting because it shows what the Court deemed (and ruled) not defamatory. Hence, it is likely to be very accurate and it shows how corrupt Topić can get.

There is also a PDF with formatting [PDF].

Thanks to our Techrights contributors who translated the original text.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.