Czech court says use of force in response to racist abuse was proportionate, prosecutor appeals

News server Novinky.cz reports that a second ruling has been handed down in a case that began in April 2017, when Mohamad Yzan Ramadan, a 25-year-old Syrian man, used force to defend himself against two youths who approached the refreshment stand he owns and began yelling at him that he was "stinking filth" and other racist insults. Ramadan ran out from behind the stand and used a baton to beat the two youths away.
A court has now spared Ramadan conviction for a second time because his actions are considered to have just been a reaction to the behavior of the people he physically harmed - behavior that they have already been convicted and sentenced for. After the incident, Ramadan ended up before a court in Plzeň on charges of disorderly conduct and attempted bodily harm.
Prosecutor Robert Merkun disagrees with the acquittal and appealed on the spot. "The court should make it clear to the defendant, who is a foreign citizen, that it is just not possible to behave like this on the territory of the Czech Republic, and if he does behave this way there will be sanctions," Merkun said.
Judge David Protiva, the sole judge ruling, said the harm to society done by the defendant's actions was significantly mitigated by the fact that the injured parties' own behavior had been inexcusable. "He could not psychologically bear that abusive bad language and unfortunately took justice into his own hands," Novinky.cz quoted Protiva, as saying.
"[The defendant's] behavior did, therefore, meet the definition of the offenses with which he was charged," Protiva said. Ramadan acknowledged he was guilty of the charges, but emphasized that he had been provoked.
"What I am being accused of is true and I regret it. However, I never would have done it if they hadn't shouted racist abuse at me and left me alone instead," he told the court.
The first time the District Court heard the case against Ramadan was in February, when it sent it to a local misdemeanor commission for handling, ruling that the behavior of the injured parties toward the defendant had been of such a mitigating nature that it would not be proportionate for the court to hear the case at all or to hold the defendant criminally liable. The Regional Court then overturned that decision at the instigation of the prosecutor.
Don't miss:
- Czech racists spread their annual summertime lies about free entry to swimming pools for Romani people
- Czech restaurant says reservations, not racism, were why a Romani group was not seated despite empty tables
- Winner of Czech-Slovak singing competition "The Voice" subjected to racist attacks online
- Czech Senator compares environmental, gender equality, multiculturalism advocacy to racism and totalitarianism at Holocaust site
- Racist band associated with a leader of "Right Sector" in Ukraine to play in Czech Republic today
- Czech hockey fans taunt Romani player with racist abuse, owner of the team they support asks league to hand down punishment
- Czech Republic: Several Romani minors hospitalized after adults attack them, shouting racist abuse
- Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion distances itself from group led by candidate for party using racist slogan
- Czech candidate for party that used racist slogan now works for new group aiding Roma
- Romani band Bengas issues new video protesting racist attacks after performer moves away from the Czech Republic
- Commentary: Czech Social Democrats have to choose between democracy and racism
- Complaint against racist election campaign in Czech town heads to the European Court of Human Rights
- Czech courts convict two people for racist online hate speech about newborn, three more are under investigation
- German MP who recently visited Czech President met with South African racists on official visit
- Fifteen anti-racist and Roma NGOs call on EU countries to commit to updating their Romani Integration Strategies after 2020
- Czech Republic to receive 10 refugees from camps in Greece and as many as 80 Syrians from camps in Turkey
- Czech anti-racism initiative says assault on Syrian man caused by xenophobic atmosphere
- Czech Republic: Hidden camera captures reactions to a refugee family from Syria
Related articles:
- Czech court orders director of housing corporation to apologize to Romani community member for abusive remarks
- Vojtěch Lavička: Czech TV show featuring Romani guys in drag is low "humor" of the fifth-rate category
- European Court of Human Rights finds Slovakia failed to properly investigate police brutality against Romani children
- Czech activist on 8 April: the Romani position in society is deteriorating, zero results from the financing invested
- Czech bodybuilder's fine upheld for approving of Romani man's murder, he says he will appeal again
- Czech court sentences man who praised deadly terrorist attack on New Zealand mosques to six years in prison, the longest such sentence yet
- Czech court finally rules football fans' actions during attack on Black man should be considered misdemeanors, not felonies
- Czech actress accused by fellow Instagrammers of racism for her comments about Black people on an American beach
- Czech footballer Ondřej Kúdela, centre-back for Slavia Prague, accused of racism in Glasgow
- LIVE BROADCAST NOW! EU Anti-Racism Summit
- Czech Prosecutor General appeals case to Supreme Court, says antisemitic death threats are a crime, not a misdemeanor
- Synodal Council of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren calls on ombudsman to apologize for anti-Romani remarks
Tags:
Plzeň, Racism, Verdict, XenophobiaHEADLINE NEWS
