On the occasion of increasingly frequent attempts to link an individual’s origin, place of birth, or ancestry with his or her political or other professional activities and engagement, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, recalls that discrimination, hate speech, the expression of discriminatory views, as well as insults and disparagement based on nationality, ethnic origin, or any other actual or presumed personal characteristic, are explicitly prohibited by law.
The Republic of Serbia is a state of all its citizens. The Constitution and laws of our country guarantee that all citizens enjoy equal rights, while equality before the law and non-discrimination are fundamental principles of democratic societies and a civilizational value.
In every society, criticism, scrutiny, and the raising of questions should be regarded as legitimate and desirable, particularly in matters of public interest. However, criticism must not be reduced to associating an individual’s work and engagement with his or her origin, place of birth, race, skin color, ancestry, citizenship, nationality or ethnic background, or religious, political, or other convictions, the Commissioner emphasizes.
Problematising someone’s origin and labeling on this basis, whether directed at the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marko Đurić, political analyst Đorđe Vukadinović, politician Marinika Tepić, or in the recent case of hate speech against Professor Filip Ejdus because of his origin, as well as in other cases, constitutes an example of frequent, typical, and severe discrimination. Pursuant to the law, it is forbidden to harass, humiliate, or insult the dignity of any person, especially where such conduct creates fear, a threatening, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment, or incites discrimination and violence.
The wave of hate speech, disparagement and insults, open death threats and calls for lynching on account of someone’s professional engagement, combined with uncompromising targeting of political opponents through graffiti and posters, has persisted for too long. We are already witnessing that such linguistic patterns have led to physical altercations and the destruction of property. Experience has shown, time and again, that hate speech breeds further hate speech, which in turn fuels aggression, producing more violence and open conflicts.
The publication of personal data, dissemination of telephone numbers, and calls to visit private home addresses, which have become increasingly frequent, should have alarmed and disturbed us all two years ago, when the household of a farmer in Bavanište was surrounded. It takes very little for anyone to feel entitled to take justice into their own hands, a course of action which only distances us, as a society, from the rule of law, justice, equality, and fairness, Janković says, adding that the atmosphere is already sufficiently grave, and could become even more serious, leading to unforeseeable consequences unless everyone urgently refrain from unlawful conduct and act once again in full compliance with the law.
