no. 07-00- 184 / 202 2 -02 date : 14.6.202 2 .

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint filed by the AA Association against Sulejman Ugljanin, the president of the VV Party, due to the statements he made at the media conference on the party premises during the presentation of the election program for the parliamentary elections held on April 3, 2022. In the complaint, among other things, it was stated that Sulejman Ugljanin, by giving the answer at the VV Party press conference to a journalist’s question to state his position on same-sex unions in the Republic of Serbia, violated the dignity of all LGBT+ people in Serbia, comparing LGBT+ people to cattle and reducing them to the level of animals. In his statement on the allegations in the complaint, Sulejman Ugljanin specified, among other things that, in the statement he gave in connection with the journalist’s question about the party’s position on same-sex unions, he explicitly stated that all target groups were included in the party’s program and that none of them showed interest in the issue of same-sex unions, and that the issue “wasn’t the subject of consideration”, that the only thing he knows about same-sex unions “is what he heard from herdsmen about how it works among cattle, which is a well-known fact among herdsmen in Sandzak and does not apply to humans”, as well as that he did not intend to harm any individual, group or community. In the course of the procedure, the content of the given statement was first determined, and then its analysis was started from the aspect of the application of anti-discrimination regulations. Analyzing the statement the complaint was filed about, it was established that Sulejman Ugljanin gave this statement at a press conference, in response to a question about the political party’s position on same-sex partnerships. After allegedly conveying the position of “a farmer, that is, cattle breeder” that “we cattle breeders observed this only with livestock when a cow starts running on a cow or a bull on a bull, we urgently sell then at a lower price to butchers for meat, much cheaper than the cost of a normal cow, because nobody on the market will buy It”, he agreed with this position saying that “he thinks that this farmer has found a formula for that question”. By conveying the attitude of an unknown person who stated that “he sells cattle at a lower price if a cow jumps on a cow and a bull jumps on a bull because no one will buy it on the market”, and then by accepting such an attitude with the words that “he thinks that this cattle farmer has found a formula for that question”, as well as by making an analogy between “abnormal livestock that is sold at a lower price in Sandžak” and the topic of same-sex unions in the Republic of Serbia, Sulejman Ugljanin violated the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, which prescribes the prohibition of harassment, humiliating treatment aimed at or representing a violation of the dignity of a person or a group of persons based on their personal characteristics, especially if it creates a frightening, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment. After the conducted procedure, the Commissioner gave an opinion that Sulejman Ugljanin violated the provisions of Article 12 paragraph 1 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination with this statement. Sulejman Ugljanin was recommended to take measures to remove this statement from the YouTube channel, issue a public apology to members of the LGBT population, as well as to meet with representatives of a civil society organization that deals with the protection of the rights of LGBT persons in order to become familiar with the problems faced by members of this population, as well as the consequences for them caused by statements that create a frightening, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment, and that in the future, make sure that when giving statements in the media, he adheres to the regulations on the prohibition of discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković