An article on the instrumentalization of the attacks by Ukrainian refugees against Roma in the Czech Republic.
Recent conflicts between Ukrainian refugees and Roma in the Czech Republic have sparked a wave of concerns and demands for a thorough investigation of these crimes. The European network of Roma organizations ERGO Network and the Ukrainian Roma organization ICO Roma Women Fund “Chiricli” appeal to the Czech police and the Ministry of the Interior to act quickly and decisively and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. The organizations also ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call on Ukrainian refugees to respect diversity and refrain from any violent and criminal acts. The organizations also request the introduction of measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. They stated this in a statement sent to the news server Romea.cz.
A video of the altercation between Roma and Ukrainians in the Czech town of Pardubice emerged over the weekend. The brawl left on young Rom wounded and resulted in manifestations by Roma in the town.
Three articles in the Ukrainian press relating the manifestation of the Roma following the brawl between Roma and Ukrainians in that city that left on Rom injured.
The stress in the Ukrainian press is effectively “we don’t really know what happened” and “who started it”, and in one case “nationality of the people was not disclosed”. Other than that, fair representation of the manifestation and the facts.
This weekend, a young Rom was injured in a fight, apparently by three Ukrainian. As a result, hundreds of Roma manifested in Pardubice, Czech Republic.
The organizers of the protest told ČTK that a young Rom was injured during the fight. According to them, the protesters were from all over the Czech Republic. A police spokeswoman said that one person was injured and three people were arrested in a brawl involving about 20 people on Saturday night. The police repeatedly called for calm. “We want to draw the government’s attention to the fact that we too are citizens of the Czech Republic and we do not walk around the city armed and attack. We want to live peacefully. We are here because the situation among the Roma is tense. This case from Saturday is not unique, it is only the second to be reported in the media. Conflicts between Ukrainians and Roma are increasing, I think it is unnecessary,” one of the organizers of the protest, Ferdinand Baník, told ČTK.
Less than a hundred people took part in an anti-Ukrainian xenophobic demonstration in Brno on June 24th, which was organized by pro-Russian disinformation Jakub Netík. Together with David Mezei, they tried to use the death of young Roma Nicolas to stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiments. Classic pro-Russian propaganda was heard at the demonstration, as well as calls for the resignation of the government.
A social worker was hit by a steel ball in what the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma already denotes as being an anti-Roma attack.
On Saturday, June 17, a memorial service was held on the Old Town Square for a young Roma killed in Brno. The representatives of the Roma and Ukrainian minorities strongly rejected the spreading wave of hatred and xenophobia.
About two hundred Roma gathered at the beginning of Cejl Street in Brno yesterday at 2 p.m., who had arrived there to guard against an alleged demonstration by Ukrainians. The police came to calm the situation. The tension between the two minorities increased after the recent violent incident at the Brno dam in which a Roma man died.
A report on the manifestation last Saturday that saw around 1’000 participants. It was spontaneous gathering. Already before two o’clock, when the event started, there were several hundred people on the square in front of the theater – apart from journalists and a few individuals from the majority, they were mostly Roma. Not many people outside the community came to share Roma grief and anger.
This time, the reason could also be that the otherwise solidary part of the Brno majority was discouraged by the anti-Ukrainian framing of the demonstration originally planned for the same time and place, which, however, the organizer herself cancelled precisely because of the fear of spreading hatred and collective guilt.
Following the murder of a young Rom in Brno last week at the hands of a Ukrainian, manifestations were held, notably in Prague with both Roma and Ukrainians denouncing racism and bigotry.
Tomorrow, ten years since the brutal police intervention in Moldova nad Bodvou, Slovakia, will have passed. The Roma went to court, only to find themselves condemned for perjury and defamation, a judgement that went to the EU court of justice which condemned Slovakia for the facts. Now, it is back in court there, under the very same person who indicted the victims, the Roma.
Not ideal to say the least.
Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková will take part in a commemorative event on the Old Town Square in Prague today. Representatives of Roma and Ukrainians will meet there. The event is organized by PULS Europe and the Czechoslovak Roma Union, in cooperation with the Olašské Roma Union.
An interview with Nick Budai, a Roma activist in Brno, Czech Republic following the murder of a Rom by a Ukrainian last Saturday.
He portrays the Brno Roma community, shaken by the violent death of a young man at the dam a few days ago, as a diverse mass of people with diverse opinions and attitudes. He admits that things are boiling so much among the Roma in the South Moravian metropolis that some of them can hear about manipulations and extreme attitudes. However, he believes that the upcoming Saturday pieta will take place in a calm and dignified manner.
Following the murder of a young Rom by a Ukrainian las Saturday in Brno, Ukrainians and Roma clashed in the city resulting in the police intervening. What is also tragic is that the extreme right is also using this murder to protest the presence of Ukrainian refugees.
This is bad.
A 23 years old Rom was killed last Saturday in Brno. He and his friend were heading towards a place to watch a firework when they were attacked apparently because of the music they were listening to. The perpetrator is apparently a Ukrainian.
What is worse, this murder initiated a huge amount of abuse online.
Bad.
An interview of the former plenipotentiary for the Roma, Ábel Ravasz on the fact that the renewed investigation of the police brutality against Roma in Moldov nad Bodvou has been given to the very same policeman who dismissed the case in 2016 and brought cases against the Roma for perjury.
The summer of 2013 police raid in the Roma settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou began with an investigation of the police actions. The prosecutor in charge stopped the original investigation in 2015 and 2016. Instead of the policemen’s misconduct, he accused the Roma of not having told the truth and to have committed perjury. They were subsequently indicted and condemned.
After almost ten years, and after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in favour of the Roma, the investigation goes back to the beginning, namely, to investigate the police.
However, the case ended up with the same investigator from Banská Bystrica, who stopped the original investigations in 2015 and 2016.
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The Karel Janeček’s foundation, in response to the early release from prison of two of the Vítkov arsonists, has established a collection called “We Stand With Natálka” (“Stojíme za Natálkou”). The aim to not only to help the victims of this arson, but also to highlight that little is done in the country for victims of serious crime.
Attacks against Sinti and Roma have increased in Germany. Last year, the authorities registered a total of 145 crimes against Sinti and Roma – the highest number in six years. This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a request from the left-wing faction.
Bad.
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