The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issued a warning to the public and then suspended the proceedings on the complaint against Dragan J. Vučićević for discrimination against Roma
Initiative A11 she filed a complaint against the editor-in-chief of TV Informer Dragan J. Vučićević in connection with his claims that they are Romi committed theft on the railway infrastructure and led to the suspension of traffic on the day of the student protest on May 23 this year.
Commissioner for the Protection of Equality he issued a warning to the public, and then issued a conclusion suspending the procedure based on the complaint.
Due to the Commissioner’s warning, there is no procedure
According to Initiative A11, the procedure was suspended because the Commissioner believes that the warning made it impossible to conduct a complaint procedure on the same matter and possibly determine the existence of discrimination against the Roma national minority.
“We believe that this practice of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality is in disagreement with the goal of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, because it effectively prevents proceedings before the Commissioner in cases where the institution announces and independently condemns an act that it deems to be discriminatory”, they say from A11.
They point out that although this is not a new legal solution, it is not in the best interest of citizens who suffer discrimination, and that it is necessary to either change the very provision of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination or change the practice.
“Namely, the Law stipulates that the Commissioner, among other things, has the authority to warn the public about the most common, typical and severe cases of discrimination, but the general goal of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination is precisely the protection of citizens from discrimination, while for this purpose the institution of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality was established, which has as its most important authority the management of procedures for complaints submitted by all those who believe that they have suffered discrimination,” the announcement states.
Although the purpose of warning to the public is significant, Initiative A11 assesses that it cannot replace the conduct of the complaint procedure, which is a more powerful mechanism.
Deepening of prejudice and bigotry
Initiative A11 states that it is necessary to issue very restrictive warnings to the public and that the current amendments to the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination have not addressed this issue, i.e. that the grounds for suspending the complaint procedure were not specified in such a way as to avoid cases in which the conduct of the complaint procedure was prevented due to a public warning.
“Finally, the fact is that Informer’s editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vučićević has not, and most likely will not, bear the consequences for his publicly expressed discriminatory attitudes about Roma and Roma women – moreover, it could be concluded that such unwarranted discrimination and stigmatization in the media can only provide further impetus for some future similar cases,” the statement warns.
As a reminder, Vučićević stated in the program the day after the student protest that “members of the Roma national community who are there with them in assemblies, blockades, they coordinate their thieving actions, steal copper exactly where they come and block”.
The A11 initiative then reacted and filed a complaint with the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, who warned the public that “if there was theft of cables or endangerment of railway traffic […], the police, the prosecution and competent public companies should deal with it based on facts and evidence”. It is also pointed out that it is inadmissible to link the entire Roma community to crime, and that such generalizations deepen prejudices and encourage intolerance.
Shain: The Roma Party takes on the legal fight against hate speech
The President of the Roma Party, Srđan Šajn, spoke about the suspension of the proceedings following the complaint of Initiative A 11 before the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality in the case of Dragan J. Vučićević.
“The decision of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality to suspend the proceedings on the complaint of Initiative A 11 against Dragan J. Vučićević represents a serious failure to protect the Roma community from discrimination and hate speech,” announced Šajn.
Therefore, it is stated, the Roma Party will undertake further prosecution in this case, using all available legal means.
“We have already hired a lawyer who will represent the interests of the Roma community and take all available legal steps so that the responsibility for the statements made will be determined before the competent authorities. We believe that the Commissioner misjudged the gravity of this case. Instead of using the legal powers to provide full protection to the members of the Roma community, the issued warning gave the impression that there was room for a kind of settlement with Dragan J. Vučićević, while the Roma were left without the effective protection of the institution that exists precisely for that reason,” he says. Shine.
Unfortunately, it is added, once again the impression is confirmed that the same rules do not apply to everyone in Serbia.
“When it comes to people close to the government or those who have great social influence, the institutions react much more leniently, while much stricter standards and sanctions are applied to poor citizens and members of vulnerable social groups. This shows that in a country where the institutions are controlled by the parliamentary majority gathered around the SNS, not all citizens are equal before the law. Additional concern and confirmation of that rule is also caused by the statements of the President of the Republic yesterday, who said that he had received about 3.000 petitions from citizens and that he would be satisfied if he managed to answer or help in only 300 to 500 cases. Such an attitude towards citizens shows that equal protection of the rights of all is not expected, but that there are those who have a privileged position and that this group makes up 15-20 percent of the population,” reports N1.
Source: Vreme
