balkan insight
02 Nov 2010 / 08:48
Bosnian Roma Dervo Sejdic has again sued his country for continuing to discriminate against him and other members of minority groups by barring them from top government posts, he told Balkan Insight on Monday.
Bosnian Roma Dervo Sejdic has again sued his country for continuing to discriminate against him and other members of minority groups by barring them from top government posts, he told Balkan Insight on Monday.
Sabina ArslanagicSarajevo
Sejdic said he decided to file another complaint before the European Court of Human Rights after being prevented from running for the country’s presidency in the October 3 general elections because of his Roma origin.
Sejdic said he decided to file another complaint before the European Court of Human Rights after being prevented from running for the country’s presidency in the October 3 general elections because of his Roma origin.
“Because the court already established that the Bosnian constitution is discriminatory… this time I decided to also ask for compensation,” Sejdic said.
Sejdic said he demanded compensation equaling four annual salaries of a presidency member. Members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, which includes seats for one Serb, one Croat, and one Bosniak, are elected for a four-year term.
Acting on an earlier complaint by Sejdic and Bosnian Jew Jakob Finci, the top European human rights court ruled last December that Bosnia’s constitution discriminated against minorities by allowing only Bosniak, Croats and Serbs to run for the presidency and the upper house of the country’s parliament.
The court ordered Bosnia to change the constitution, brought in under the Dayton peace agreement which ended the country’s 1992-95 war, prior to holding general elections in October. However, the ruling Bosniak, Croat and Serb politicians failed to agree on a mechanism to change the document.
After Bosnia’s central electoral commission rejected his candidacy for the October elections as ineligible, Sejdic complained to the country’s Constitutional Court, asking that the elections be delayed until necessary changes were adopted. However, the Court said the issue did not fall within its jurisdiction.
About half a million Bosnians, including Jews and Roma, are believed to be part of the group known as ‘others’ and are as such prevented by the constitution from running for top government posts reserved for Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks.
balkan insight
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