Samir Arnautović claims he lost acquaintances and projects?

A hearing was held yesterday at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, where the parties in the case of Samir Arnautović vs. Sanja Vlaisavljević for defamation were heard, reports the Patria News Agency.  

In cross-examination, Sanja Vlaisavljević stated, supported by documentary evidence, that Arnautović plagiarized in his books and that his portal Ekran.ba spread street language, hate speech, and inflammatory language. At the Court, she reiterated Arnautović's responsibility in financially questionable business dealings in the implementation of several projects at the University of Sarajevo, for which she had previously provided documents from an audit of those dealings, according to a statement sent to the media by Sanja Vlaisavljević. 

Finally, Vlaisavljević pointed out through written evidence that the plaintiff Arnautović failed to contact the portal Poskok.info, where the disputed text was published, and request a retraction or apology, which he was obliged to do under the Law on Protection against Defamation. Therefore, it is quite clear that the plaintiff did not intend to reduce the damage allegedly caused by the text through this lawsuit, but rather to harm the defendant.

The defendant, rejecting the claims of defamation, also referred to the testimony of the plaintiff's only witness, former rector Faruk Čaklovica, who at one of the previous hearings stated a position contrary to the claims in the lawsuit, emphasizing that he is in an extremely friendly relationship with the defendant and that they are still realizing the largest project in the Balkans, which contradicts the claims in the lawsuit stating that the defendant "lost acquaintances and projects".

At the hearing, a psychiatric expert witness was also heard, who stated that she could only assume that the plaintiff was disturbed by the disputed text, as the first and only expert examination was conducted six months after the text was published, and that other factors could have influenced the defendant.

The closing arguments are scheduled for March 16, 2016.