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President Klaus Iohannis promulgated on Monday the law regarding some measures for preventing and combating anti-gypsysm, according to AGERPRES.
According to the draft, "anti-gypsysm" is in regard to both the perception of Roma people, expressed through hate, as well as verbal or physical manifestations of hate towards gypsies, targeted against them or their property, against institutions / NGOs, leader of Roma communities or their places of worship, traditions and the Romani language. An anti-gypsy organization means any group formed of 3 or more people who temporarily or permanently carry out their activity with the purpose of promoting ideas, conceptions or anti-gypsy doctrines.
According to the normative act, anti-gypsy symbols are flags, emblems, pins, uniforms, slogans, forms of salute, as well as any other marks that send ideas, concepts or doctrines which promote anti-gypsysm. The anti-gypsy materials are images, text messages, audio-video content, as well as any other such representations which send ideas, concepts or doctrines which promote anti-gypsysm, the law stipulates.
The law contains prison punishment between 3 months and 3 years for those who publicly promote ideas, concepts or anti-gypsy doctrines, manufacture, sell or spread such symbols and between 1 and 5 years prison sentence for those who distribute or spread materials to the public from the same category. Furthermore, initiating an anti-gypsy organization, accession or supporting, in any shape or form, for such groups, leads to a prison sentence from 3 to 10 years.
It is not a crime if the fact is carried out in the name of science or art, research or education, or with the purpose of debating some aspects of public interest, the law says.
Also, people who have committed the crimes mentioned above will not be punished, if they denounce to the authorities the existence of the organization, before it was discovered and started committing any of the deeds that come for the group's purpose.
