Arson in Býchory, Czech Republic: Romani victims unhappy that suspects are at large
The father of the family victimized by Monday’s arson attack in Býchory, Kolín district, is not happy with the court’s decision to release all of the suspects. Police originally requested they be remanded into custody. The judge said he could not remand three of them into custody because the state prosecutor had reduced the charges against them. However, the judge also released the fourth defendant, who has been charged with a more serious crime.
Reduction of charges and custody
The state prosecutor reduced the charges against three of the suspects arrested, who if convicted could face prison sentences of between six months and three years for committing violence against a group and individuals. The original charges of complicity in attempted grievous bodily harm have been filed against only one of the four suspects, who faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted of the racially motivated attack.
The four defendants were released on their own recognizance, allegedly because the regional state prosecutor reduced the charges for three of them. Apparently the penal code will not permit Judge Miroslav Vobořil at the Kolín District Court to remand the three into custody. The court also did not find that the fourth defendant would be likely to engage in further criminal activity. “There was therefore no reason for him to be placed in custody,” Vobořil said. The alleged assailants come from Býchory and surrounding villages. One of them even resides directly across the street from the building in which the Romani victims live.
Lawyer Klára Kalibová, director of the In IUSTITIA association, which provides legal aid to victims of hate violence, believes all of the suspects could have been remanded into custody. “The law make it possible to remand suspects into custody if the concern exists that the defendants will attempt to thwart the investigation into the circumstances of the crime. In this case, where the defendants committed the crime together, in my opinion there is such a justified concern. It is also possible they will attempt to manipulate the victims and the witnesses. For the victims, this situation is one of great stress. The victims fear the defendants may try to contact them, or that they might run into them at any time where they leave,” Kalibová told news server Romea.cz.
Milan Demeter, the father of the victimized family, did not welcome the court’s decision. “It’s bad, we wanted to try to return to Býchory, but now that the court let them go, we are understandably even more afraid. I could understand them releasing the three who only shouted curses and slogans, but the fact that the fourth one who threw the torch into our apartment is released is too much,” Milan Demeter told Romea.cz.
“I disagree with that decision, but I have to respect it. We can only hope the defendants don’t repeat their attack,” Cyril Koky, coordinator for Romani affairs at the Central Bohemian Regional Authority, told Romea.cz.
“That instruction came from the regional state prosecutor, our criminal justice people did not make that decision,” said Soňa Budská, spokesperson for the Central Bohemian Police regarding the reduction of the charges. Detectives say the crime had a racist subtext. State prosecutor Miloslava Zagarová did not want to comment on the decision to reduce the charges.
A four-member group marched through the village of Býchory in the early morning hours of Monday, shouting racist slogans and giving the Nazi salute. One of them then threw a flaming torch through the open window of the living room of an apartment where Romani people live. No one suffered physical injury and the damage done to the property was negligible. However, the victims are now suffering enormous psychological problems.
Eva Douchová, the mother of the victimized family, was previously attacked by one of the arsonists. In an interview for Romea.cz, she described the incident: “He had a problem with my nine-year-old son, who was riding his bike in the road. That assailant once told me that the next time he saw my son, he would turn on the radio and wouldn’t stop until he’d run him over. After we exchanged words he grabbed me from behind, spun me around and punched me twice in the face.”
