Expert: Ban on EuroPride March Is New Blow on Human Rights in Serbia

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The announced ban of the march within the EuroPride week in Belgrade represents another hard blow on the state of human rights in Serbia, especially the constitutionally protected rights to free expression and assembly, Srdjan Hercigonja of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy told BETA on Sept. 15.

In his words, a ban is a measure of last resort, used only if there is a real risk for a gathering to result in unrest and when there are no other, less strict methods to prevent it, while neither the Interior Ministry, nor other institutions, have presented to the public any evidence of this radical move being justified.

"The issue of rights of the LGBT+ community is also a political issue, especially in the context of European integration, because many powerful EU member countries exercize full respect of the rights of this community," said Hercigonja, who is a formed researcher of the Center. He added that the organizers of EuroPride had for months been targets of attacks and pressures, which should be viewed in the context of the rising number of violations of the human rights of activists, as well as of the entire nation.