Anti-Gypsyism becomes a crime. Prison of up to 10 years for discriminating against Roma

Those who do not respect the rights of Roma and promote anti-Roma doctrines could face up to 10 years in prison.

The measure appears in a bill that received, yesterday, the decisive vote of the Chamber of Deputies.

What is meant by anti-Zanism?

According to the project, “anti-Gypsyism” means both the perception of the Roma expressed as hatred against them and the verbal or physical manifestations motivated by hatred against the Roma, directed against the Roma or their properties, against institutions / NGOs, leaders of Roma communities or its places of worship, traditions and the Roman language.

Regarding acts punishable by deprivation of liberty, the bill establishes the following:

• The public promotion, in any form, of anti-Gypsy ideas, conceptions or doctrines, as well as the public use of anti-Gypsy symbols, acts punishable by imprisonment from three months to three years. Exceptions are acts committed in the interest of art, science, research, education or debate on issues of public interest;
• join or support in any way an anti-Roma organization, punishable by imprisonment from three to ten years. Exceptions are those who inform the authorities of the organization’s existence before it is discovered.

What happens next, when the law can go into effect?

The bill has been approved by Parliament and has yet to be promulgated by presidential decree and published in the Official Gazette in order to apply.

There is also the option for the president to return the law to Parliament and request its re-examination, just as there is the possibility that the law will be challenged in the CCR.

Let’s also say that the bill passed in the first chamber, the Senate, that is, without debate and without a vote.