Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic strongly condemns the attack on a man, who was beaten in pizza restaurant in the center of Belgrade just because he was carrying a purple bag, which made attackers think that he was a LGBT person. She expects that authorities will find, arrest and sanction the perpetrators.

Any violence that results from discrimination against certain social groups, in this particular case because of assumed protected characteristic, is impermissible and prohibited, Jankovic says. She added that this case indicates that we have to work continuously to remove social distance and discrimination, which in some cases ends with physical violence against LGBT citizens.

In a democratic society, human rights and freedoms of every individual must be guaranteed and protected and all citizens must be equal, Commissioner concludes.