Bulgarian court finds nationalist party leader's statements discriminatory

Alert DateMarch 13, 2008 Country: Bulgaria Address: Sofia, Bulgaria General Type: Discrimination Racism and discrimination phenomena: Islamophobia, Religious intolerance
Groups affected / Interested in: Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Media Hate speech/Racist Discourse Medium: TV Media
Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin Bulgarian, Turkish
Victims Gender Female, Male
Victims Age <17, 18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, 56-65, 66+
Victims Number N/A
Fatalities - deaths N/A
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin Bulgarian
Perpetrator Gender Male
Perpetrator Age 46-55
Perpetrators Number 1
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

On 13 March, 2011 the Sofia City Court ruled that the Bulgarian nationalist party ATAKA’s leader Volen Siderov has made discriminatory remarks against ethnic Turks in Bulgaria. The court found that with his speeches Siderov committed harassment based on ethnicity and ruled that he should refrain from such statements against ethnic Turks in future.
The case was brought to court by the singer Sunai Chalakov with the support of the coalition "Citizens Against Hate" under the Law on Protection against Discrimination.
Below are some of Siderov’s statements attacked in the court:
"The state-owned television in Bulgaria spents public funds, which is our funds, to broadcast news in a language that we do not understand.”
“For many Bulgarians this language (Turkish) is not pleasant to listen because it is associated with the language of those who killed and committed genocide over the Bulgarian nation for many years."
"(...) In spite of all the historical facts which show that there was genocide over the Bulgarian Christian population for centuries. The genocide was carried out by people who speak that language, which you heard earlier in the issue "News" on the National Television.”

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