The Strasbourg court: Bulgaria will pay 109,000 euros to Roma expelled from Vojvodinovo – Novinite.com
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Bulgaria to pay a total of 118,000 euros to the Rome people of the Plovdiv village of Voivodinovowhose rights to private and family life and to non-discrimination have been violated by the authorities – both for damages and costs.
In its decision published today, the ECHR found that the Bulgarian authorities violated the right to private and family life (Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights) and to non-discrimination (Article 14 in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention) of the Romewho at the beginning of 2019 were expelled from the Plovdiv village of Vojvodinovo.
Then 56 Bulgarian citizens were forced to leave their only home and the village due to their Rome origin, recalls the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHK). Local authorities and government officials at the time not only did not try to prevent this persecution, they organized and encouraged it. The eviction was prompted by a fight on the afternoon of January 6, 2019 between two Rome and a 33-year-old special forces commando. As a result, the commando was hospitalized for several days. The perpetrators were immediately arrested, charged and, in early April 2019, convicted.
The incident prompted a protest, supported by radical racist groups in Plovdiv. The village mayor took their side and warned the Rome live there to leave, recalls the organization for the defense of human rights. In total about 100 Rome, including pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities, left Vojvodinovo. They found temporary shelter with relatives, friends, in shacks and abandoned buildings in Plovdivin nearby locations Plovdivand some were forced to move to settlements 300 kilometers or more from the city.
Two days after the incident, on January 8, then-Deputy Prime Minister Krasimir Karakachanov of the VMRO-BND party visited the village and ordered the immediate “clearing” of illegal buildings in Voivodinovo, which led to the demolition of some of them, and after the intervention of the mayor, water and electricity were cut off throughout the neighborhood. In response, between 200 and 300 Rome gathered at a demonstration in Sofia and demanded Karakachanov’s resignation.
The collapse of buildings made it virtually impossible for people to return home, and even those who wanted to return despite the poor conditions and risks were arrested by the police at the request of local authorities. Attempts to challenge these actions of the authorities before the Administrative Court – Plovdivand before the Supreme Administrative Court have not been respected.
On April 1, 2019, expelled Rome filed a request with the ECHR for interim measures due to their dire situation. On 24 April 2019, the court ordered such measures against 16 applicants, most of whom were minors, demanding that they be provided with appropriate accommodation. However, the Bulgarian government refused to implement the temporary measures. The ECHR has pointed out that the Rome from the village were subjected to a situation that frightened them, and that they were subsequently unable to return to their only home, regardless of their illegal status.
In its decision, the court also pays particular attention to the fact that Deputy Prime Minister Karakachanov made highly stigmatizing and widely disseminated statements by the collective media about the Rome ethnic group. This is his line “The gypsies have become very insolent” from 2019, for which in June 2021 the Supreme Administrative Court found grounds for indictment for hate speech.
The European Court of Human Rights also notes the statements of the mayors of the village of Voivodinovo (Dimitar Toskov) and the Municipality of Maritsa (Dimitar Ivanov) that “public opinion is one – there is no turning back“, “there will be a lot of trouble in the future if they come back [the Roma in the village]”, “now is the time for bulgaria to shake them off so they can go“, “I will pay for their transportation from Bulgaria to wherever they decide“. The ECHR concluded that such a public manifestation of non-acceptance of the Rome constituted a real obstacle to their peaceful return, given that such public statements by the State authorities had given rise to the applicants’ fear.
The court notes that the mayor of the village did not request the help of the police to ensure the return of the evictees to their homes, nor did he provide them with information on social services or other forms of assistance. to find accommodation. On the basis of all this, the ECHR concluded that the cumulative effect of the inaction of the various competent authorities – the mayors, the police and the public prosecutor’s office – led to a situation in which all the applicants were driven from their homes. , which inaction was not sanctioned in the national proceedings.
The applicants are awarded a total of €109,000 in moral damages and €9,000 in costs. Before the court, the applicants were represented by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
“This case is a terrifying example of the spontaneity of anti-Roma sentiments in Bulgarian society and how Bulgarian the authorities must comply with it instead of opposing it“, commented lawyer Diana Draghieva of the BHC’s legal protection program
“In its decision, the ECHR identified very serious shortcomings in the work of the court and the prosecution“, commented the president of the human rights organization Krasimir Kanev.
“Once the violation has been established, we expect the prosecution to order an investigation and take the necessary steps to bring the culprits to justice.,” he added.
/Dnevnik