Human
rights news: July 2004
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23 July 2004 |
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Sofia City Court convicts company of ethnic discrimination against RomaIn the first decision on the basis of the new Anti-Discrimination Law the Sofia City Court sentenced on 9 July 2004 the Vally Ltd. company to pay a fine for refusing to supply services to Roma clients |
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With a decision from 9 July 2004 the Sofia City Court sentenced the company Vally Ltd. to pay the sum of 300 Euro for non-material damages to Sevda Nedkova Nanova, a Romani woman from Sofia, for discriminatory ethnic treatment in the supplying of services. An employee of the company, which runs a sock shop in central Sofia, had driven Ms Nanova out of the shop calling her a "Filthy, stinking Gypsy". The shop assistant further threatened the young woman to "Get out, or the boss and beat you until he tires!" The court held that the act constituted direct discrimination against Ms. Nanova based on her ethnic origin. The court found a violaiton of article 4 of the Anti-Discrimination Act and sentenced Vally Ltd. to pay a fine for non-material damages. This is the first decision of a Bulgarian court in a discrimination case after the entry into force of the Anti-Discrimination Act on January 1 2004. Human rights NGOs took an active part in the preparation of the draft. It offers special effective protection agaisnt discrimination, which was lacking in Bulgaria before. The case was filed with the support of the European Roma Rights Center -Budapest and the Romani Baht Foundation. From the BHC Press Centre For more information: |