Nondiscrimination Coalition urges prosecutors to hold Voronin accountable

The Nondiscrimination Coalition called upon the prosecutors to hold Vladimir Voronin responsible for his racist statements. It also urged them to conduct investigations into similar cases so as to hinder the spread of such discriminatory trends that endanger the Moldovan people’s physical integrity and violate the rights guaranteed by the national legislation and the international law, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a statement submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office. The statement says that on February 18, the Communist Party of Moldova staged a large protest in the Great National Assembly Square. A group of demonstrators protested peacefully against the Communists’ event near the Triumphal Arch. Among them was John Onoje, a Moldovan citizen who emigrated from Sierra Leone. In his speech during the protest, the Communist leader Vladimir Voronin, a member of Parliament and former President of Moldova, made racist statements against John Onoje, referring to his skin color. “They brought a black man from Africa, who descended from a tree, to do politics as they are unable to,” said Vladimir Voronin. The Nondiscrimination Coalition considers that the racist statements are inadmissible and dangerous, especially when the author is a former head of state and a public figure that is trusted by a part of the people. The consequences of such acts include the proliferation and multiplication of the racist discourse, leading to the discrimination and violation of people’s rights, on grounds of ethnicity or race. According to the Coalition, the persons who sympathize with the racist public persons feel encouraged by such statements to verbally and physically attack discriminated persons. Immediately after the protest, John Onoje was maltreated and this fact was confirmed by the medical examination. The Nondiscrimination Coalition says that more public figures now make discriminatory discourses or statements that incite hatred and violence. The fact that the authorities do not react and the persons to blame are not punished leads to an alarming rise in the number of such speeches.