Czech off-duty police officer assaults Romani children for smoking

Last Thursday an incident transpired in Sokolov, Czech Republic in which an out-of-uniform police officer assaulted an 11-year-old Romani boy whom he saw smoking. Kateřina Krejčí, head of the press department of the Karlovy Vary Regional Police Directorate, has informed news server Romea.cz that the case will be reviewed by the Regional Police Directorate where the officer is assigned to duty to see what measures to take next.

"My son has admitted to me that he and a friend were attempting to smoke a cigarette on the street. When the cop saw them, they say he asked them what they were playing at. The boys then turned away from him, and he reportedly said 'Turn around, you black fags!' They then gave him a vulgar response and he ran at them. The other boy managed to escape, but not my son," the mother of the victim told Romea.cz.

The officer, whose name is known to Romea.cz, is then said to have begun beating the child. The child's aunt arrived to the scene some moments later and saw the man holding the child by the throat and dragging him behind him for several meters.

The aunt immediately summoned the boy's mother to the scene. "I was standing at a distance and I called out to him asking what had happened, why he was beating him. The guy told me the boy had been smoking, but that's no reason to beat a child like that. I said he should have informed me and I would address it with him as his Mom. He answered that he was a cop," the boy's mother told Romea.cz.

The assaulted boy then said the man had kicked and punched him. His mother, who was upset, asked her sister to call police to the scene.

In the interim, several other people came to the scene asking for an explanation of what was happening. The mother then took her son to the hospital for examination and also reported the entire incident at the local police station.

Krejčí has confirmed to Romea.cz that police are thoroughly investigating the case. "We have very thoroughly investigated all the circumstances of the case, especially the behavior of the police officer, who was not on duty at the time of the incident, " she said.

"Given his involvement in the incident, the case was also reviewed by the Internal Audit Department of the Karlovy Vary Regional Police Directorate. The entire matter, with our preliminary conclusions, will be handed over to the relevant Regional Police Department where the officer is assigned for duty so the appropriate measures can be taken," the spokesperson said.

"Currently we are not, therefore, authorized to communicate the specific findings of the investigation," the spokesperson said. News server Romea.cz will continue to follow the course of the investigation.