Zelena akcija marks a historic, double victory in the fight for public space and the right to defend the environment! After two full decades of resistance, the erasure of accommodation capacities on Mount Srđ above Dubrovnik from the spatial plan has been proposed. At the same time, after eight years of exhaustion in the courts, a final and binding acquittal has been rendered for the responsible persons of Zelena akcija.
The proposal to erase accommodation capacities on the plateau of Mount Srđ from the spatial plan is the ultimate confirmation of what Zelena akcija, the initiative "Srđ je naš" (Srđ is ours), and the citizens of Dubrovnik have been warning about for 20 years. From the very beginning, the so-called "golf resort" was merely a cover for an oversized real-estate development and the permanent devastation of Dubrovnik’s most valuable space. This decision proves that long-term persistence, protests, legal actions, and well-argued advocacy pay off, and that the public interest ultimately can, and must, prevail over private appetites for profit.
However, this battle came at a high price. Parallel to defending Srđ, Zelena akcija had to defend itself against legal violence for years. After eight full years of being dragged through the courts, we have finally received a final acquitting verdict in a frivolous lawsuit initiated by the company Razvoj Golf against the responsible persons in our organization. The costs of this process grew to over €15,000.
"This judicial process was a textbook example of an attempt to intimidate and financially exhaust activists, but it also had a very clear, strategic goal: to prevent Zelena akcija from participating in the international arbitration proceedings that the investor launched against the Republic of Croatia. They wanted to tie us down legally, discredit us, and silence us so that we wouldn't provide the state with key arguments against their fake investment," stated Enes Ćerimagić, a lawyer for Zelena akcija.
However, their plan failed. Despite enormous pressure and foul play, Zelena akcija successfully joined the arbitration process. Through our expert contribution, arguments, and detailed knowledge of the case's chronology, we made a huge contribution to ensuring that the investor's claim was ultimately rejected in full, saving hundreds of millions of euros of public money.
The fact that civil society organizations have to spend tens of thousands of euros and years of work defending themselves against groundless lawsuits points to a serious flaw in the judicial system that enables so-called SLAPP lawsuits (strategic lawsuits against public participation). Meanwhile, the civil lawsuit for damages that Razvoj Golf launched against Zelena akcija, parallel to the criminal proceedings against its responsible persons, is still ongoing.
Nevertheless, today brings a clear message: they failed to silence us, and Srđ remains ours!
The campaign to protect Srđ has demonstrated just how critical the role of civil society organizations is. Civil society associations are a crucial democratic infrastructure and guardians of the public interest. Despite this, civil society is increasingly exposed to attacks, both from investors and various political actors, and the framework for its work is becoming increasingly difficult and unfavorable. May these victories serve as a warning against such trends and an incentive to recognize the role of CSOs in the democratic functioning of society.
We thank everyone who stood by us in the "Srđ je naš!" campaign, this victory belongs to the citizens.
Naše sadržaje možete prenositi u integralnoj ili prerađenoj verziji uz navođenje organizacije Zelena akcija - pod uvjetima licence Creative Commons Imenovanje 4.0 međunarodna.
Ovo dopuštenje se ne odnosi na stock fotografije i embedane sadržaje drugih stvaratelja.
Design & development: Slobodna domena Zadruga za otvoreni kod i dizajn
