Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia (2003, as amended 2012) (English)

(unofficial translation, emphasis added)

Excerpts related to Hate Crimes

Article 54a - Special Circumstance for Determining a Punishment for a Criminal Offence Committed in Hatred

If a crime is committed out of hatred because of someone's race or religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, the court shall consider this circumstance as an aggravating circumstance, unless it has been prescribed as an element of the criminal offence.

Article 130 - Violation of the Right to Expression of National or Ethnic Affiliation

(1) Whoever prevents another to express his national or ethnic affiliation or culture, shall be punished with fine or imprisonment up to one year.

(2) The penalty specified in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be applied also to whoever coerces another to declare his national or ethnic affiliation.

(3) If the act specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are committed by an official in discharge of duty, such person shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years.

Violent Behaviour during Sports Event or Public Gathering

Article 344a

(1) Whoever violently assaults or physically attacks participants of a sports event or a public gathering, performs violence or damages assets of greater value upon arrival or departure from a  ports event or a public gathering, brings in a sports facility or casts on the sport ground or among the spectators objects, pyrotechnic means or other explosive, flammable or harmful substances that can cause bodily injury or endanger the health of participants in sports events, damaging the sports facility, its equipment, devices and installations, their behaviour or slogans on sports events causing national, racial and religious hatred, or intolerance based on some discriminatory principle that results in physical violence with participants in sports events, shall be punished by imprisonment from one to five years and fined.

(2) If the criminal offence specified in the paragraph 1 of this Article is committed by a group, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment from two to eight years.

(3) Leader of the group that commits the criminal offence specified in the paragraph 1 of this Article shall be punished by imprisonment from three to twelve years.

(4) If committing the criminal offence specified in the paragraph 1 of this Article has caused riots during which someone suffered grave bodily injury or the assets of greater value were damaged, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment from three to twelve years.

(5) The responsible person or official who while organizing a sports event or a public gathering fails to apply the security measures in order to prevent or stop the riots and therefore endangers the lives or bodies of great number of people or the assets of greater value, shall be punished by imprisonment from three months to three years and with fine.

(6) An obligatory security measure of prohibition from attending certain sports events shall be ordered to the perpetrator of the offence from paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article which was performed during a sports event.

Excerpts related to Hate Speech offences

Article 174 - Ruining the Reputation for Racial, Religious, Ethnic or other Affiliation

Whoever publicly ridicules a person or group because of a particular race, colour, religion, nationality, ethnic origin or other personal characteristics, shall be punished with a fine or imprisonment up to one year.

Article 317 - Instigating National, Racial and Religious Hatred and Intolerance

(1) Whoever provokes or incites ethnic, racial or religious hatred or intolerance among the peoples or ethnic communities living in Serbia shall be punished by imprisonment of six months to five years.

(2) If the offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is committed by coercion, maltreatment, compromising of security, exposure to derision of national, ethnic or religious symbols, damage to other person's goods, desecration of monuments, memorials or graves, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of one to eight years.

(3) Whoever commits the offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article by abuse of power or authority, or if these offences result in riots, violence or other grave consequences to co-existence of peoples, national minorities or ethnic groups living in Serbia, shall be punished for the offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article by imprisonment of one to eight years, and for the offence referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article by imprisonment of two to ten years.