Failure to adequately investigate and punish attack on a lesbian in Croatia is a violation of ECHR
The First Section of the European Court of Human Rights has today given its judgment in Sabalić v Croatia . The case concerns Ms Pavla Sabalić's complaint about a lack of an appropriate response of the Croatian authorities to a homophobic act of violence against her. The facts On 13 January 2010, Ms Sabalić was physically attacked in a nightclub in Zagreb where she was with several of her friends. The attack ceased only after one of the Ms Sabalić ’s friends used her gas pistol to frighten off the attacker. The police report records the incident as follows: " While they were in the nightclub [ Ms Sabalić ] was approached by an unidentified man who started flirting with her but she was constantly refusing him. After the nightclub closed they were all standing in front of it and the man continued pressing [ Ms Sabalić ] to be with him. When she said that she was a ‘lesbian’ he grabbed her with both of his arms and pushed her against a wall. He then star