BalkanThemes Volume 1: Issue 2 – Roma

November 3rd, 2014

Roma family stands behind a broken window of their house where they were attacked by the local population in Osenik, which is located 20 km west of Sarajevo (Credit: Midhat Poturović)

The second issue of BalkanThemes examines the rights of Roma and other minorities in the countries of former Yugoslavia.

Minorities Roma

Censorship in the Modern World

It was the English poet and civil servant, John Milton, who said of free speech: “For this is the freedom that most of all gives happiness or misery, or success or disappointment, or honor or shame.” This statement remains one of the most powerful on this topic, as it recognizes a fundamental truth about human nature: we, as a species, naturally aspire to freedom. Humans are beings who impose boundaries and frameworks. We are taught modes of behavior and we go through life alongside them. Freedom of speech is inherent within all freedoms. In the modern world, where fluent discourse is propagated, hidden forms of censorship often arise.

September 6th, 2024

Omar Zahirović