Court adjourns case of Romany family suing police assailants

The regional court today adjourned indefinitely the case of a Romany family claiming an apology and financial compensation from two former police officers who assaulted them in 2003 and who have already been sentenced for it in separate criminal proceedings.

The then officers, Marek Vrastil and Karel Berousek, broke in the flat of the Danis family in Popovice u Jicina, east Bohemia, in May 2003.

"The size of the court room makes the public’s attendance impossible, which is at variance with the constitutional principle of public proceedings," judge Vera Adamkova told journalists today, explaining why she has adjourned the case.

"Another reason is the alleged bad health state of one of the sued, which he is to confirm by a medical report saying whether the public’s presence at the trial would harm his health," Adamkova said.

The Danises have sued the officers in search of their personal rights protection. They want them to apologise and provide compensation worth tens of thousands of crowns.

In separate criminal proceedings in 2005 Vrastil and Berousek were each given suspended prison sentences, 20 months with four-year probation and one year with three-year probation respectively.

Berousek refused to testify during the trial, while Vrastil pleaded non guilty.

The court then said that a racial motive of the attack had not been proved.