Arson trial: Nazis blame each other, contradict themselves, were after “gypsies”

The trial in Ostrava of the four men behind last year’s arson attack on a Roma home in Vítkov entered its second day today. Defendant David Vaculík said yesterday’s testimony by co-defendants Václava Cojocaru and Ivo Müller had been untruthful, but continued to refuse to testify himself. Defendant Jaromír Lukeš has also refused to testify.

The defendants were escorted into the courtroom at around 9:15 AM. The trial was to have continued with Cojocaru’s testimony, but he refused to testify further and did not want to answer questions, angering the attorneys for defendants Lukeš and Vaculík. The cross-examination of Cojocaru and Müller had been postponed by the presiding judge until today. “Our rights to cross-examine are being curtailed,” Vaculík’s attorney said. Lukeš’s attorney expressed the same complaint.

The court then attempted to hear testimony from Vaculík, but he would only say that Cojocaru and Müller’s testimonies had been untruthful. “Müller’s testimony is a lie, and Cojocaru’s is just as untruthful,” Vaculík said.

The presiding judge said Vaculík has refused to testify from the very beginning of the investigation and that no testimony from him was available for consideration. It is Vaculík who made regular financial contributions to the Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana – DS) and is listed as the convener of one of their demonstrations.

Jaromír Lukeš has refused to say anything about yesterday’s testimony by his co-defendants. Both Cojocaru and Müller stated that Lukeš organized the attack. They also both claim to have been unaware that the house was occupied.

The presiding judge read Lukeš’s testimony from the preliminary proceedings into the record, in which Lukeš claimed to police that he had operated on the information that the house in Vítkov was an unoccupied storehouse for stolen electronics and gasoline. He called the house an “appalling kennel”. “I told them it was condemned,” he said. He also claimed not to know whose idea it had been to throw Molotov cocktails at the house or how many his co-defendants had thrown, and emphasized that he had stayed in the car and had not thrown anything.

During his second interrogation by police, however, Lukeš essentially labeled Müller as the initiator of the attack, claiming Müller had asked him where such an abandoned house might be. Lukeš then told him about the house in Vítkov. Lukeš also said one of the other defendants expressed the desire to throw some Molotov cocktails during the drive to Vítkov. “That is when I realized they wanted to try Molotov cocktails,” Lukeš said, describing himself as just the driver. Today in court, both Müller and Vaculík labeled that part of his previous testimony a lie. Lukeš also previously told police he was an active sympathizer of the Workers’ Party. “I did my best to make it to their demonstrations,” he said. The presiding judge then announced a 30 minute recess shortly after 10 AM.

When the trial resumed, Müller’s previous testimony was read into the record. His statement to police during the preliminary proceedings did not completely correspond to the testimony he gave yesterday. During the preliminary proceedings, Müller said he knew the attack was targeting Roma and also admitted that the house could have been occupied. He admitted the group had wanted to attack a house used as a meeting point by “inadaptable citizens” regardless of their skin color. He also stated that Lukeš had said there were “gypsies” in the house. “We said we were going after Gypsies, to burn their house down, to do something bad to them, but we had no idea such a large family might be living there,” he said.

The presiding judge took exception to the contradictions in Müller’s testimony and demanded an explanation. “Your testimony is contradictory. This was a targeted attack,” he said. Müller responded as follows: “I was under stress. I just said that so the police would leave me alone. They took me into custody.” After consulting with his attorney, Müller said he would not testify further. Vaculík then labeled all of Müller’s testimony a lie. Lukeš would not comment on it. Cojocaru said he had not heard anyone in the car say they were going after Roma.

Attorneys for Lukeš and Vaculík said at the end of today’s hearing that their rights had been violated because they had not been permitted to cross-examine Cojocaru and Müller. The presiding judge adjourned the hearing shortly after 11:30. The trial will continue tomorrow at 9 AM.

The four men attacked the Romani family’s home during the early morning hours of 19 April 2009. Three of them each threw a Molotov cocktail through the windows while Lukeš waited in the car. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. A little girl who was not yet two years old at the time was the most seriously injured and suffered deep burns over 80 % of her body. The indictment charges that the crime was meant to gain publicity for extremist groups and the 120th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler.