But these laws are often not applied. For example, Bulgarian Criminal Code Article 162 prohibits incitement to racial and national hostility or hatred, as well as racial discrimination and violence against people with different nationality, race or religion. In my experience as a human rights activist on behalf of Roma, I have worked with many, many cases, and I cannot remember a single instance in which prosecutors requested that charges be brought against non-Roma or police officers under Article 162. Inscriptions on the walls read Death to Gypsies . It is presumed that these are written by drunk or stoned skinheads.
Nothing is done about such inscriptions and their authors.
Discrimination and prejudice are evident at all levels of society. Roma are not let into bars and restaurants or are not served if they manage to make it inside. Sent to school on racist grounds, these children will not get good jobs in the future, can expect lives without dignity. I began to think about the Romani issue when I was twelve or thirteen years old, when I began to realise that we are treated differently. If you are Rom, people are constantly suspecting you of something.