Matvejevic was given a five-month suspended prison sentence by the Zagreb Municipal Court on November 2 for libeling and offending writer Mile Pesorda in an article entitled "Our Taliban" which appeared in Jutarnji List daily four years ago.
Alaburic told reporters her client waved his right to appeal to the verdict passed by the court of first instance, so the verdict, after being delivered to him in Rome where he currently resides, became final. Matvejevic had said he would not appeal the verdict as he did not think that his article with his critical opinion should be a matter of court proceedings.
The Zagreb court's verdict elicited strong criticism in the public, and many associations, including the Croatian Journalists' Association and the Reporters Without Borders, as well as other public figures condemned the ruling.