The public area during the last few years was invaded by homophobe, islamophobe and other kinds of hate speeches that incite violence. But the authorities do not react even if there is a law on the freedom of expression. The issue was raised by representatives of civil society organizations in a press club meeting, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Nothing is done and this impunity leads to the perpetuation of these speeches and to other consequences that can turn into hate crime. Certain expressions are often used in the mass media, which incite hatred and have a serious impact on society,” said Iulia Marcinshi, coordinator of the Promotion of Nondiscrimination Policies in Moldova Project of the Nondiscrimination Coalition. Angela Frolov, coordinator of the Lobby and Advocacy program of the Information Center “Gender Doc-M”, said that any violence starts from words of hatred. “Unfortunately, the hatred words are covered by political correctitude. The ugly words are said using nice language that looks positive at first sight. We saw this in spring, when political persons spoke about the antidiscrimination law using words that looked positive, but pursued other goals,” said Angela Frolov. She also said that the LGBT community in Moldova is hidden because the people are afraid to speak about their sexual orientation. Sergiu Sochirca, the representative of the Islamic League of Moldova, said that hatred was instigated when the Christians protested against the legalization of Islamism in Moldova. The demonstrators carried placards with extremist, provocative and discriminatory content, inciting hatred and aggressiveness towards Muslims. “This is shocking and incompatible with the Christian religion. The Metropolitan Bishop said the registration of Islamism represents humiliation for the Orthodox Christians. Bishop Marchel said it was a bomb under Moldova’s statehood and if we do not stop them, the daughters of this land will one day form part of the Muslim harems, mentioning several stereotypes in order to increase the phobia towards Islam, so that the people are afraid and are not interested in Islamism,” said Sergiu Sochirca. The representative of the National Roma Center of Moldova Diana Bordian said the Romany people continue to be discriminated. Trying to insult their colleagues, public persons use negative expressions that offend the Roma ethnic group. Some of the media outlets highlight the ethnic dimension, especially in the negative news stories. “The criminals and offenders do not have ethnicity. They must be punished according to the law,” said Diana Bordian. The jurist of Amnesty International Moldova Igor Stoica said that a law on the freedom of expression, which meets the European standards, was adopted in Moldova in April 2010. “Our legislation tends to create a balance between the guaranteeing of the freedom of expression and the banning and penalization of the hate speeches. Currently, the jurists have only one instrument for protecting the human rights – in accordance with the Civil Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses. Unfortunately, the Penal Code has not been yet applied in this field. I think this legal instrument will start to be used in the near future,” said the jurist. The debate meeting “Hate speech and discrimination – social danger” was organized by the Nondiscrimination Coalition within a project to promote the nondiscrimination policies in Moldova, with support from Civil Rights Defenders and USAID. The Center “GenderDoc-M” and the National Roma Center of Moldova are members of the Nondiscrimination Coalition.