Most, Czech Republic: Altercation involves Roma and Ukrainians, police are investigating, say rumors that a child was attacked with a knife are not true
On Tuesday evening a scuffle broke out among four persons in Most, Czech Republic to which several state police patrols responded together with municipal police. The incident, which transpired before many eyewitnesses, was quickly resolved, but two people required medical treatment as a result.
Police informed news server Romea.cz of their investigation. On Facebook, video footage of the incident was shared among Romani social media users without any context.
“The police are currently gathering information and performing the steps of a criminal proceeding. The investigation is of suspected disorderly conduct and attempted battery, but we are not ruling out the possibility that the legal categorization of the crimes will be adjusted as we review the evidence,” Police Commissioner Václav Krieger told news server Romea.cz.
Police are also calling on the public to contribute to clarifying what happened. “Any information about the cause or the course of this conflict could be crucial and should be reported to the 158 line,” Krieger said before refuting the rumor circulating on social media that a child was attacked with a knife.
“The police refute the rumor that a child was attacked with a knife during this incident. That allegation has been investigated and it is not true,” Krieger told Romea.cz.
According to local Romani residents who spoke with reporter Jan Houška, two Ukrainian men allegedly harassed a 15-year-old Romani girl. “They were groping her in the corridor and filming it for themselves,” the girl’s mother told Houška.
The mother called police, who addressed the matter at the scene. However, later on a scuffle transpired outdoors, the end of which is captured by the video footage now circulating on social media.
The local Romani woman who spoke with Houška said there have long been problems with one of the Ukrainians involved, but rejected the idea that this is some kind of interethnic conflict. “Ukrainians live here who are absolutely fine. We do our best to get along with them and it doesn’t matter if somebody’s black or white. We’re all just people, we can get along with them,” she said before adding that local residents have filed complaints and signed a petition against one individual in particular, with 80 people allegedly signing it.
Houška, who runs a Facebook page called Sos Investigativní poradna (SOS Investigative Counseling Center), also filmed statements by four men from Ukraine who allegedly were involved in the conflict. They have absolutely, resolutely rejected the allegation of sexual harassment.
“This is about failing to maintain order and the rules of the building. The girl was smoking indoors, so I told her not to, and I even filmed it with my phone. I called the police and showed them the video,” one Ukrainian man told Houška.
“She made up the story that I harassed her. It’s not true, it’s a lie,” the Ukrainian man told Houška.
“The reason for the conflict was that she was making a mess, but they began calling us pedophiles,” another Ukrainian man told Houška, adding that they filmed the entire interaction. “This is also about their insulting our nationality. They say we should go back to Ukraine and stuff like that.”
The Ukrainians say they do not have anything against Romani people. “I have a Romani friend, we go for coffee. We have nothing against Romani people at all. This is not about nationality, not at all, this conflict is about the rules,” the Ukrainians told Houška.
“We don’t assault children, we have wives and children ourselves, that’s absurd,” said the Ukrainians.
