The Romanian Senate has approved a bill providing for up to ten years in prison for people promoting anti-Roma doctrines, the Ziare website and Deir quoted the information as saying.
The legislative project also includes measures to prevent and combat anti-Roma attitudes, initiated by parliamentarians from national minorities, the Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, the Romanian Salvation Alliance, the Liberal Alliance and the Democrats.
The statute provides for sentences ranging from 3 to 10 years in prison for persons publicly endorsing anti-Roma ideas, concepts and doctrines that disseminate content of a similar nature that creates, accompanies or supports anti-Roma organizations.
It is not a criminal case for situations in which the above events were committed in the interest of art, science, education or for the purpose of discussing aspects of the public interest, the project states.
The bill is yet to be voted on by deputies of the Chamber of Deputies, which is the deciding body in the case.
