The Autonomous Women's Centre strongly condemns the hate speech and direct discrimination of director Dragoslav Bokan towards Marinika Tepic and all members of the Romanian national minority, and demands urgent action by the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality of the Republic of Serbia.

The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, pursuant to Art. 46 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, has the right to file a lawsuit in her own name and on her own initiative to the Court for protection against discrimination, which is why we demand that the Commissioner act immediately in accordance with her legal powers.

If in this case there is no response from the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, whose basic mandate is to protect the equality of citizens of this country, we think that it will only encourage and normalize hate speech in public, especially in political elections, because this way of discrediting can become "an election campaign tool". This can only lead to further escalation of violence and discrimination against citizens based on their personal characteristics, including nationality, which is unacceptable and will have far-reaching consequences for security, the unenviable position of national and ethnic minorities in Serbia, and overall democratic processes in Serbia.

 The public call of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality can be seen HERE.