In a procedure initiated upon a complaint from Praxis and Association of Roma Organizations “Smederevo Forum,” the Commissioner for Protection of Equality established that the weekly regional newspaper “Nase Novine” had hurt the dignity of the members of Roma minority and violated the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination by publishing an article entitled “A Bite in a ‘Romani’ Way” expressing disturbing and humiliating attitudes and ideas.

Specifically, the article “A Bite in a ‘Romani’ Way,” published in April 2013 at the front page of the regional newspaper “Nase Novine,” deals with the problems the citizens have with attacks by stray dogs and provides information that portray the members of the Roma minority as persons that treat animals with cruelty, kill them and cook their heads, and then inflict physical injuries upon themselves with the aim to unlawfully obtain financial benefit from the Smederevo City Administration. It is stated in the article that such actions have caused expenses in the City of Smederevo’s budget amounting to dozens of millions of dinars.

Even though the publication of the article provoked reaction from the Cabinet of the Mayor of Smederevo that responded with an announcement and from the President of the “Smederevo Forum” who sent a letter, both condemning the manner of publishing information and generalizing about the problem as pertaining solely to the Roma, the editorship of the newspaper did not issue an apology to the members of Roma national minority in Smederevo.

Following the procedure in which the Commissioner had established relevant facts and having taken the statements of all the interested parties, the Commissioner issued an opinion and gave recommendation to be proceeded upon within 30 days. The opinion of the Commissioner pointed to the fact that the manner of reporting that spread the message that the Roma were responsible for great budget expenses, by only stating one example of abuse by an anonymous source which stressed the nationality of the persons who were allegedly responsible, was unacceptable and contrary to anti-discrimination regulations. The Commissioner also emphasised the media responsibility in forming public opinion and, with that regard, stated that it was necessary to bear in mind that labelling a nation as criminals may result in the members of that nation becoming socially undesirable, which is particularly dangerous taken into consideration that the Roma population in Serbia is often exposed to discrimination in all aspects of social life.

Finally, the Commissioner established that the expressed ideas and attitudes represented disturbing and humiliating treatment of the members of Roma national minority even though the submitters of the complaint thought that the gravity of the accusation against the Roma had lead to hate speech in this case. The Commissioner recommended to the weekly regional newspaper “Nase Novine” to issue a public apology to the Roma national minority with regard to the published information and to invite to a meeting representatives of the Association of Roma Organizations “Smederevo Forum” and Praxis to get directly acquainted with the everyday problems of the Roma community and informed about how the article with such contents had affected the Roma. The Commissioner also recommended to the newspaper “Nase Novine” that they no longer publish articles that hurt the dignity of the members of Roma or any other national minority and feed the prejudices towards national minorities.

Bearing in mind the role of media in forming public opinion, Praxis expresses hope that established discrimination in this case will contribute to raising awareness about prohibited types of behaviour, but also about the importance of reporting in a way that raises awareness about equality of national minorities and influences the change of patterns, customs and practice that cause stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination against Roma national minority.

Download: Opinion and Recommendation of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality (Serbian only)

Download: Interview with Jasmina Mikovic, Praxis Deputy Executive Director, for Radio Beograd 1