Psychologist Convicted of Defamation: Reported Kindergarten Director
The Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court fined the psychologist €1,466.67 for making false claims about the former director of Srednjaci Kindergarten in a report to institutions.
The Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court fined the psychologist €1,466.67 for making false claims about the former director of Srednjaci Kindergarten in a report to institutions.
The Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court has found a Zagreb-based psychologist guilty of criminal defamation against the former director of Srednjaci Kindergarten, L.J. She was fined €1,466.67, and the verdict, delivered in late 2025, was recently made public.
The court established that in the spring of 2021, the psychologist sent a report to the Ombudsperson for Children, Helenca Pirnat Dragičević, the City Office for Education, and other institutions. According to the court's findings, she falsely described an incident from March 2021 that took place in a park near the kindergarten.
The incident occurred at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The then-director, L.J., came across a group of parents and children in a nearby park after working hours. She took photos of them and later explained her motives in court.
I told them that we were working non-stop at the kindergarten to comply with epidemiological measures. I photographed the parents who had gathered so that, in case the epidemiological situation in the kindergarten worsened, I would have proof that children and parents were gathering outside the institution. I took three photos to protect the kindergarten if there was an infection. I acted as a citizen, not as a director.
The former director emphasized that she did not insult or threaten anyone, although the communication was loud due to maintaining distance. Her version of events was corroborated by one of the mothers present in the park that day. She stated that the director's tone was irritated and accusatory, but apart from that, there was nothing particularly problematic, and she did not recall any threats.
The convicted psychologist did not deny filing the report during the proceedings but claimed her intention was not to defame the director but to protect her own child. She feared the photos might end up on social media.
I had no ill intent. My intention was to protect my child. I was not aware of what would happen with the recording she made, and I feared the photo could end up on social media.
She added that her concern was not the photographing of children under controlled conditions, but the possibility of them being published with hate speech. She also noted that for her, the whole story was over once she sent the report.
The court did not accept her defense. In the verdict's reasoning, it is stated that if her sole aim had been to protect her child, the psychologist could have sent an email to the kindergarten requesting that the children's identities be protected. Instead, she sent a report to institutions with allegations that were not confirmed as true.
The proceedings did not prove that L.J. insulted parents, raised her voice at them, or made threats. This was also not confirmed by the education inspectorate, which conducted an on-site visit after receiving the report and found no irregularities related to the disputed incident.
The former director described the consequences of the anonymous report in her testimony. About ten days later, she received a notification about it, had to respond to numerous institutions, and an inspection visited the kindergarten. The process itself, as she said, damaged her professional reputation.
