Brno, Czech Republic: New information about tragic death, demonstration Saturday, Romani singer uses video to spread xenophobia

Many observers are concerned the demonstration could become a platform for hate speech and are warning that the disinformation and neo-Nazi scene is connected with some members of the Romani community. New information has also been reported in the media and through social media users about how the entire conflict played out on Saturday.

According to the new version of events, the Ukrainian man who committed the stabbing could have done so while defending himself against the three young people after a conflict arose over their playing music loudly and smoking on the tram. Plachetková announced yesterday that the demonstration will be held at the Janáček Theater on Saturday.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the demonstration. During a live broadcast yesterday on Facebook, Plachetková stressed several times that the aim of the demonstration is not to disseminate hate against Ukrainians, but many experts are warning that hate speech may happen there.

Hateful video from Romani singer Lucie Bikárová

Lucie Bikárová, a young Romani singer, has shown the likelihood of such an outcome through her own invitation to the demonstration. Her openly xenophobic speech was posted to Facebook by the convener of the demonstration.

Bikárová first expresses her condolences to the family of the deceased, Mr. Nikolas Dirda, then says she decidedly does not want to disseminate hate against any group, but part of her video still involves openly expressed xenophobia against temporarily-protected Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. “Our Government is failing and failing because our country is becoming absolutely unsafe. We’re afraid to go outside. Why? Because they’re attacking us!” she asserts emotionally.

“I will speak for Romani people and not just for them, we’re Czechs, this is our country, and we will defend it,” the singer says in the video, accusing the President and Prime Minister of having the blood “of our people” on their hands. At the close of her speech, she pours more fuel on the fire by making openly xenophobic remarks.

“This is our country, stop defending foreigners, protect us Czechs. (…) The media are spinning it, they’re writing that this was [just a] foreigner. Why, why are you protecting them? Tell the truth. Don’t spread this stupidity, what I see on the streets of Brno and Prague are just young immigrants. Drunks. I don’t see any mothers with children, I see nothing but young drunks,” Bikárová says in an absolutely extremist tone in her video, which has already been shared more than 5,000 times and received almost a thousand written comments, most of which are positive about her message.

“You’ve said it exactly and it’s impossible not to agree with you,” one of many such comments reads. Some people, however, are criticizing her speech and comparing it to the anti-Romani speeches made during the attempted pogroms against Romani people in northern Bohemia a decade ago.

“The gadje [non-Roma] in Varnsdorf and Duchcov made absolutely, completely the same kinds of videos. They were against the Roma, though, not against Ukrainains… The gadje also cried, they said they couldn’t go outdoors at all because they were afraid Romani people might assault them, they alleged that Romani people are being given advantages and so forth. Eventually it turned out very badly,” posted human rights activist Miroslav Brož.

Bikárová’s hateful video was also criticized by Jaroslav Miko, another activist who is a Romani community member. “The singer Lucie Bikarová is taking up the rhetoric of Tomio Okamura and the Czech extremists in her video,” he told news server Romea.cz.

Miko criticized the principle of collective guilt yesterday in a commentary for the news server, as did Czech Government Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková. “It is exactly such public appeals that might lead to violence and could eventually come back to haunt us Roma, our families and our children,” Miko posted to Facebook.

Are some Romani people connected to disinformers and extremists?

The Roma Luma political party has distanced itself from the demonstration. Chair Marco Cavali has criticized the hateful, racist speech by Romani social media users.

“You’re behaving exactly like the Fascists and the Nazis, not all Ukrainians are bad. To differentiate among people according to their nationality is racism, it’s discriminatory, it’s Fascist, it’s Nazi. It’s the very worst atrocity a person can commit, to divide people up according to their nationality and collectively blame everybody in their group,” Cavali said in a Facebook video, adding that members of Roma Luma will not be attending the demonstration.

Several experts are also warning that the disinformation and extremist scene is connected to some Romani community members. According to extremism expert Miroslav Mareš, pro-Kremlin groups opposed to the Czech Government’s aid to Ukraine are doing their best to exploit the tragic incident.

“The debate is genuinely quite fragmented. A very paradoxical alliance is underway between Romani people and some ex-football hooligans,” Mareš told news server iDNES.cz.

“In the past, Romani people were insulted when everybody generalized and tarred everybody with the same brush after a crime committed by a Romani perpetrator. Currently, paradoxically, a large part of Romani social media users are expressing themselves in that same vein now,” the expert said.

Jiří Sláma, a photographer who has long followed the extremist scene, is also warning that it will be risky to hold a demonstration over this tragedy. “The demonstration being prepared for Saturday will become a place where angry Romani people will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with veterans of the neo-Nazi movement who organized pogroms against the Roma in the past,” he said.

Cyril Koky, the Central Bohemian Coordinator for Romani Affairs and Foreign National Integration, has forcefully rejected any association with extremists. “This entire case is sparking high emotions, and the pseudo-patriots and extremists intend to exploit this tragedy, those whose main aim is to get as many people as possible to be angry at the Ukrainians. Dear Nazis and deplorables, nobody here wants your support. I would like to remind all of you that we very well recall what happened in Litvínov, České Budějovice, Varnsdorf and many other towns in the Czech Republic,” Koky posted to social media.

New information about the incident: Was the Ukrainian outnumbered and defending himself?

The police have published details about their intervention at the scene of the tragedy last Saturday. “An eyewitness warned a police patrol of a brawl underway near a public transport stop. Officers ran to the scene of the incident, one patrol member called an ambulance, another ascertained a description of the suspect (the perpetrator) and then saw a person fitting that description who was near the traffic island for boarding public transportation. A 37-year-old man was then apprehended and arrested on the spot,” Petr Vala, the police spokesperson, wrote yesterday.

It is not yet absolutely clear what happened on the tram. A new version of how the incident might have transpired has appeared in the media.

“Several eyewitnesses allege that the Ukrainian man went over to admonish a bigger group of Romani youths, things escalated into a scuffle, and he used his knife in self-defense,” news server Manipulatori.cz reports. Some sources close to the investigation have given similar information to news server Romea.cz.

Sláma describes the incident similarly. “Nikolas Dirda and his friends were taking the tram to Brno’s fireworks show, Ignis Brunensis. They were smoking, listening to loud music, and shouting. The other passengers did their best to ignore them, but one yelled at them because he didn’t like what they were doing. The tram driver saw the conflict starting and reported it to the dispatchers. Before the police made it to the Přístaviště stop, Dirda’s little group of friends had disembarked there along with the guy who had objected to their behavior. Nikolas and his friends assaulted him. The guy pulled a knife, Dirda died after the chaotic clash, and his friend ended up with stab wounds,” Sláma said.

“What will be crucial to determining exactly what role the parties to the conflict played will be the testimonies not just of those involved, but of eyewitnesses. For that reason in particular we are again asking any witnesses: If you were an eyewitness (and you haven’t been in contact with police yet) who saw this conflict or who knows what preceded it in the tram, call 158. Until all of the eyewitnesses have been questioned we can’t say anything more. We have filed a motion for the accused to be remanded into custody,” police spokesperson Petr Vala said, adding that detectives are making every effort to work on clarifying all circumstances of the case.