Communicated on 7 February 2019

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 45066/17 Stjepan MESIĆ against Croatia lodged on 20 June 2017

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns an article published on 17 February 2015 by an internet news portal Dnevno.hr suggesting that the applicant (who was at the time the President of Croatia) had been involved in criminal activities in relation to procurement of armoured vehicles by the Croatian Army from the Finnish company Patria . The applicant complains that by dismissing his civil action for compensation the domestic courts failed to protect his reputation.

QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES

1. Was the decision of the domestic courts to dismiss the applicant ’ s civil action for compensation in compliance with the State ’ s positive obligations under Article 8 of the Convention to ensure effective respect for his private life, in particular, his right to respect for his reputation?

2. Did those courts achieve a fair balance between the applicant ’ s right to respect for his private life under Article 8 and the news portal ’ s right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention?

3. In particular, did the three impugned statements in the article published on 17 February 2015 by the news portal in question have sufficient factual basis?