Romania to Punish Anti-Roma Acts with up to 10 Years in Jail

The Romanian parliament on Tuesday adopted a law that will punish anti-Roma "verbal or physical" actions with prison terms ranging from three months to 10 years.

A total of 244 deputies voted for the law, which only one MP rejected. Some 20 legislators abstained and eight did not take part in the vote, according to the Romanian parliament's website.

After Romanian president Klaus Iohannis promulgates the law, it will enter into force after being published in the government gazette.

Once this happens, those found guilty of "initiating or constituting an organization of anti-gypsist [sic] character" may can receive jail sentences of up to 10 years.

Distributing anti-Roma material or content can send culprits to prison for up to five years, while "promoting in public … anti-gypsist ideas, concepts or doctrines" can be jailed for up to three years.

People who join in these crimes might also be deprived of some rights.

The so-called law "to prevent and combat anti-gypsyism" defines anti-gypsyism as any "perception regarding the Roma [that is] expressed as hatred against them", as well as "the verbal or physical manifestations motivated by hatred against Roma" that is directed against members of this ethnic group, their property, their institutions and leaders or their traditions and culture. 

More than 600,000 Romanians, or over 3 per cent of the total population in this country of more than 19 million, identified themselves as Roma in the latest census. According to some estimations, the Roma account to up to 10 per cent of the total population of Romania.

Romanian Roma were in the past used as slaves. Some 25,000 Romanian Roma were deported by the authorities during World War II to Transnistria, in today's...