OPINION

The opinion was adopted in the proceedings regarding the complaint of the Association “Femplatz” against Danilo Lukić, due to discrimination based on gender. In the complaint, it was stated that Danilo Lukić is a lawyer and first of the list of the Group of citizens – For a better Municipality of Plandište, who, among other things, included in his pre-election program for the elections held on June 21, 2020, the “import of women” from Belarus and Kazakhstan for unmarried fellow citizens of the Municipality of Plandište. In addition, the lawyer Danilo Lukić made a statement for the portal Nova.rs and saying: “I work as a lawyer, so all the guys come to me and complain that there are no girls. I tell them that if they can’t get married, we will take one or two buses and bring at least a hundred women from Belarus. So, in seven years, we will have three new classes in the school”. In his statement, lawyer Danilo Lukić disputed the complaint in its entirety, stating, among other things, that every municipality in Serbia now has an established special municipal fund for encouraging births, for which funds are allocated from the municipal budget to increase the birth rate, which is why it is unclear what kind of discrimination is in question, as well as that, as a councilor in several convocations of the local parliament, he personally knows that investing in the future of children is the most profitable investment. After the conducted proceedings and presented evidence, it was determined that the aforementioned statement of the lawyer Danilo Lukić represents humiliation and disparagement of women, and support of gender stereotypes. The Commissioner especially took into account that Danilo Lukić was first on the list, and that he should take care not to insult the dignity of a person or a group of persons based on their personal characteristics with his statements. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issued the opinion that this statement violated the provisions of Articles 12 and 20 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, and therefore recommended that Danilo Lukić publish a public apology to all women in electronic or printed media with local and/or regional coverage, as well as not to make statements that insult the dignity of women and support gender stereotypes in the future.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković