The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality strongly condemns the events of the past few days of the election campaign, such as the promotion of the video and statements with elements of hate speech towards the LGBTI community and political dissenters, the attacks on activists in the door-to-door campaign, on the stands of the Serbian Progressive Party in Kragujevac, and on the activist of “Serbia against violence” in Pirot, insults of public figures, signatories of the Proclamation, as well as verbal attacks on NGO activists and members of the City Election Commission. These are just some of the events that additionally upset the public.
At the beginning of the election campaign, the Commissioner pointed out that actions and statements that encourage discrimination or violence are inadmissible and prohibited by law. Verbal and physical attacks on political dissenters, persons of different sexual orientations, individuals or groups just because they have a certain personal characteristic are inadmissible and must be sanctioned.
The Commissioner warns that Miša Vacić’s election video in which he “promises” fellow citizens who are members of the LGBTI population “treatment” in Moscow or Tehran after he is elected mayor, as well as the statement that he will “raise children patriotically even if their parents are traitorous”, represents a severe and typical case of discrimination, which the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination prohibits. She calls for the content above to be immediately removed from all places accessible to the public.
The Commissioner condemns threats and attacks on political dissenters and reminds us that the political struggle must remain within the limits of the law while respecting the right to different views. She points out that the authorities must react immediately that the perpetrators are found and adequately sanctioned, regardless of who attacked whom and whether women, men, members of the government, or the opposition were attacked. Violence has no gender or political determination, and the fact that it is committed against a woman or a man does not reduce responsibility. Violence is violence, and the police and all competent authorities are obliged to ensure equality before the law.
Given that there is a fine line between inappropriate speech and physical confrontation, the Commissioner once again calls on all political actors, as well as citizens, to respect the Constitution and the law and not to allow such behavior to get out of control in the last week of the campaign and lead to more serious consequences.
