The Commission for Prevention and Protection Against Discrimination found that the mayor of the Municipality of Struga Mr. Ramiz Merko conducted harassment on the basis of race, skin color, ethnic and national origin and belonging to a marginalized group towards a group of citizens.
According to the complaint filed by the European Roma Rights Center from Brussels, the statement made by Mayor Merko is discriminatory and consists of threats to deport beggars from the territory of the Municipality of Struga. According to the Law on Local Self-governance , the mayor does not have powers to deport or expel citizens.
The CPPD requested a response from the Mayor of the Municipality of Struga. His response was that according to him, he did not discriminate with his statement and in his words, the statement was directed towards the Ministry of the Interior which is the responsible organ for identification of the movement of persons which arrive in the municipality. In his response to the complaint, he also made an apology to all parties affected by the statement.
In this case, the CPPD found that the mayor’s statement for deporting citizens with lower social status constituted harassment. Given that the position of a mayor is a public function, his statements reach a large number of citizens, including citizens who recognize themselves in the intention of the mayor, which adds additional weight to the harassment.
The CPPD issued a recommendation to Mayor Merko to publicly apologize to the citizens affected by the statement in at least three public media outlets.