Party officials and activists often use illegal means to influence the electoral will of members of socially disadvantaged and minority groups.

The poorest citizens are often exposed to political pressure as "easy targets". Compared to the general population, the rate of employment and education among Roma is significantly lower, and housing conditions are much worse. Combined with prejudice and marginalization, these facts make the Roma population very susceptible to pressure and manipulation by political actors.

Pressures on Roma sometimes also come from minority parties. Pressure is often exerted by persons who are Roma themselves. Either as party activists or party collaborators, i.e. Roma party trustees, or as coordinators for Roma issues, members of Roma organizations or members of the National Council, Roma are often the ones who directly exert pressure on their compatriots or play an important role in various forms of electoral corruption. covered Roma population.

The pressure exerted on Roma through the service system is testified by a member of a Roma organization, who gained authority in the Roma community through many years of work in the civil sector. As a member of the Roma organization, he functions as a link between the party and the Roma community, with the task of obtaining as many Roma votes as possible. He presents himself as someone who can do crucial things for the Roma community, such as employment, local actions, solving infrastructure problems, scholarships for children, education of young people, etc. He says that he would be cooperative with any party that would be considerate of the Roma community and that would enable him to perform the aforementioned tasks.

Link: https://pritisci.crta.rs/pritisci-na-rome/?fbclid=IwAR2A9V-IZYaPwXCPYTafk3u5l_BtjDD1VoZBklgiKTZDbyFYk92B4lJEZ9U

"We believe that the attack is inadmissible and must not be tolerated in a society that promotes democracy." "Although the police have identified the suspects, we believe that the investigation is insufficiently detailed and that additional steps should be taken to determine responsibility for this incident," the statement said.

Also, the Alliance against Discrimination of Roma expresses its indignation at the actions of the police and the basic public prosecutor's office in Leskovac, who believe that it is a criminal offense that can be prosecuted under a private lawsuit.

"We call on all competent institutions to take adequate steps to protect the Roma from such attacks and to prevent the further spread of prejudice and hatred towards them." Roma are a part of this society and have the same rights as all other citizens of the RS", it is stated at the end of the announcement of the Alliance against Roma Discrimination.

As a reminder, today the Leskovac Police Department announced to ROMinfomedia that on April 11 this year, police officers from the Police Department in Leskovac, immediately after the victims reported that unknown persons were throwing stones and banging on the gates of houses, went to the scene, interviewed injured parties and notified the competent prosecutor's office, which stated that it was a criminal offense that was prosecuted under a private lawsuit.

As it was announced, with further work, the police identified and found a twenty-two-year-old young man, as well as five nineteen-year-olds, against whom they will file appropriate misdemeanor charges from the Law on Public Order and Peace.

Link: https://rominfomedia.rs/2023/04/18/alijansa-protiv-diskriminacije-roma-ogorcena-postupanjem-policije-i-osnovnog-javnog-tuzilastva-u-leskovcu-u-slucaju-napada-na-rome-u-turekovcu/

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