The Constitutional Court of Croatia has in at least three separate occasions (May and December 2016) upheld the decisions of lower courts ruling that individuals who used the salute have committed an offense against the public order and have incited to hatred (similarly to the concept of "Volksverhetzung" in German law). Due to his chant at a football stadium, Josip Šimunić was sentenced for "incitement to hatred based on racial, ethnic and religious grounds, as the salute was used in NDH and is a manifestation of racist ideology." This was also the opinion of the High Misdemeanor Court of Croatia, which ruled that those using the salute "expressed unacceptable political ideas, upon which Republic of Croatia as a ( ... ) democratic country is not based." In August 2019, in a verdict on the case of the salute's usage in nationalist war-time "Bojna Cavoglave" song, High Misdemeanor Court held that the salute was an offence against the article 39 of the constitution which bans incitement to hatred. Song performer's earlier conviction was thus upheld. However, in June 2020 High Misdemeanor Court's judiciary council decided on appeal that singer Marko Perković Thompson has not committed an offense against public order by using the salute in his song. This decision has been heavily criticized by Croatia's legal experts as stepping outside of the legal and constitutional order or even rules of procedure. Constitutional Court issued a public statement reminding it had ruled the salute as an "Ustaša salute" and found it in breach of the constitution.