Name: Does Slovenias new security law target Roma people?
Uploaded: 2025-12-16T14:39:16.632Z
Duration: 4 min 32 s
Description: Following the death of a 48-year-old man that was blamed on a member of the Roma community, Slovenia has passed a bill that gives the police sweeping new powers. What will its impact be?

Following the death of a 48-year-old man that was blamed on a member of the Roma community, Slovenia has passed a bill that gives the police sweeping new powers. What will its impact be?

Novo Mesto

Slovenia has enacted a new security law, known as the Šutar Law, following public outcry after the death of a man in Novo Mesto, allegedly at the hands of a Roma individual. The law expands police authority, allowing warrantless searches for firearms in designated high-risk areas. Members of the Roma community and rights groups, including Amnesty International, have voiced concerns that the law could be applied in a discriminatory manner, further marginalizing the Roma population, which numbers between 7,000 and 12,000 people.

The government maintains that the law is designed to protect human rights and prevent crime, but legal experts and activists question its effectiveness and motives, suggesting it may have been fast-tracked for political reasons ahead of upcoming elections. Polls indicate that a majority of Slovenians support the government's actions, though critics argue the law is unlikely to improve security or the situation of the Roma community.

Does Slovenia's new security law target Roma people?

These officers are checking a car near the city of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia. Drago Braidic says he's been held up for over an hour and that he's being targeted because he's Roma. Slovenia's Roma community has been at the center of public debate for the past seven weeks. The death in Novo Mesto in late October of 48-year-old Aleš Šutar, who was allegedly attacked by a Roma man, sparked nationwide protests, at which some people chanted openly racist anti-Roma slogans. Two ministers resigned following an outpouring of public anger. Within weeks, the center-left government of Prime Minister Robert Golob had passed a new security bill. Dubbed the Šutar Law, the legislation expands police powers, allowing them to identify high-risk areas where they can surveil and search homes for firearms without a warrant. Here, on the outskirts of Novo Mesto, members of the Roma community say they are feeling the impact firsthand. It's good that this man is gone. Braidic says that it's not just the attitude of the state authorities that has changed. He also senses a growing mistrust of Roma people within Slovenian society. It's as if we killed that man. It's all over the place. They call us gypsies, you are murderers. Activist Haris Tahirović, himself a member of the Roma community, blames the government's new security law for stoking anti-Roma sentiment. In this new law, they have confirmed even greater repression against the Roma community. They went so far as to show the people that they are protecting, that they are enforcing laws that will protect all criminals, all those who are involved in crime every day, and all these illegal activities. But I can see that they are clearly going against the Roma community. Rights groups like Amnesty International have also warned that the law could be applied in a discriminatory way to the country's Roma community, which the Council of Europe says counts between 7,000 and 12,000 people. When DW contacted the government for a statement, it replied that the law protects human rights and seeks to prevent crime regardless of who the perpetrator is. But legal experts question whether it can achieve that. This law will not contribute to increasing security nor to improving the position of the Roma community, which is not enviable. The Roma community in Slovenia lives in a situation where they are not worthy of human dignity. Many think that the government's fast-tracking of the law was a political move to avoid losing votes to the right-wing populists. But the government's actions are not the only reason why it was a political move to avoid losing votes to the right-wing populists, who are currently leading polls for the March 2026 election. This is a law to stop extreme rights from voting. This is not a law to improve the security of citizens and to improve the lives of other citizens. That strategy may have worked at least in part. A recent poll shows that about 60% of Slovenians have a favorable view of the government's actions. I hope that things will get better now. I hope that things will get better now. I hope that things will get better now. I hope that this will only bring the problem closer and that the problem will not be solved where it is. I hope that this will start in the municipalities where there is a need for integration of Roma people as a city and a community. While it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of the Šutaj law will be, it seems unlikely that it will help bridge the growing rift between Slovenia's majority population and one of its most marginalized groups.

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