Via Iuris: Roma tenants discriminated against by Sabinov

The Presov Regional Court has ruled that the town of Sabinov and the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development applied discriminatory practices when they treated Roma and non-Roma inhabitants differently during the eviction of tenants from apartments in the town centre, by moving Roma inhabitants to flats with lower standards situated outside of urban areas, NGO Via Iuris said on Thursday. According to the verdict, the municipality violated the principle of equal treatment in two ways: with the inappropriate choice of location where the Roma were moved, seeing as the new locale only works to reinforce their segregation, and by moving exclusively Roma tenants there. Furthermore, the court awarded each of the eight plaintiffs compensation of 1,000 euros in the lawsuit that dragged on for over a decade.