Former president has to pay RON 600 fine for discriminating statements against Roma

Former president Traian Basescu lost the trial in which he appealed the fine received in 2014 following his discriminating statements about Roma people. The High Court of Cassation and Justice on Friday overruled the appeal filed by Traian Basescu, while preserving the decision ruled by Bucharest Court of Appeal in June 2014. The court had confirmed the RON 600 fine applied by the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) for one of Basescu’s statements in 2010 when he was saying that “a lot of Roma people from Romania are living from what they steal.”

While in an official visit to Slovenia back then, the former head of state was asked by a journalist regarding the measures taken by Romania related to Roma.

“We have another problem which must be said and which makes the Nomad Roma’s integration difficult- very few of them want to work. Many of them are traditionally living from what they steal. If we are not going to honestly admit also the problems of the ethnic group itself and the problems we encounter in knowing the ethnic group, we’ll not find out the issue’s solution,” Traian Basescu used to answer.

He also claimed that he had offered jobs to some Nomad Roma while he was mayor of Bucharest, but they eventually abandoned them.

In 2014, the CNCD decided to fine Traian Basescu with RON 600, on the ground that his statements are discriminating and break the Roma people’s right to dignity.

At the same time, the anti-discrimination body argued that it had not been the first time that Basescu made discriminating statements.