Czech Republic: Brutal assault began with words "why are you talking to a Gypsy?"
A brutal assault was perpetrated this summer on a 45-year-old man who stood up for a friend of his in a bar in Bystřice pod Hostýnem. All three nationwide television stations (Czech Television, TV Nova and TV Prima) have reported on the incident.
The attack took place on 20 July in the Las Vegas bar. Police have not yet managed to apprehend the perpetrators and have now released video footage of the incident in which the assailants’ faces can be seen.
The footage shows two friends normally having a beer in the bar. After a verbal skirmish with two other men, however, one of them is punched in the abdomen and then to the head.
"They accosted me first. They asked me why I was talking with a Gypsy, so I told them he isn’t a Gypsy," Marcel Kolařík described the start of the conflict.
When Josef Utěkal of Bystřice stood up for Kolařík, the assailants proceeded to attack Utěkal with indiscriminate brutality. "They pushed me to the ground and one ran up and kicked me in the eye with his heel. They kept punching me just to that eye and after that I don’t know what happened," Utěkal describes the brutal attack.
Utěkal does not believe the assailants are locals of Bystřice and said he had never seen them before in his life. "When I helped him to sit up a bit, there was a pool of blood underneath him twice my size," Kolařík said.
From the video footage it is clear this was no ordinary brawl. One of the assailants, who seems to have lost his senses, punches Utěkal on the ground long after he has lost consciousness.
Utěkal came to in the hospital. Besides a severe brain concussion, he has also sustained serious injury to his left eye.
To this day he is suffering from strong headaches. His eye has been operated on twice and he evidently will live with the aftermath of his injures for the rest of his life.
"They gave me skin grafts. One side is still dead," Utěkal said.
"We have categorized the crime as felony rioting and grievous bodily harm," says Simona Kryšnerová, spokesperson for the police in Kroměříž. Both assailants face up to 10 years in prison.
"If the victim was assaulted because of either his actual or perceived nationality, i.e., because the attacker believed the victim is Romani, then the assault can be qualified as grievous bodily harm motivated by ethnic, national, racial or religious hatred. In such cases the perpetrator can face up to 12 years in prison. The person afflicted in this case is a particularly vulnerable victim and has the right to both legal and social aid. The In IUSTITIA organization offers both free of charge," Klára Kalibová of the In IUSTITIA organization told news server Romea.cz.
No one has identified the assailants as of yet. "Detectives are investigating the incident but have not yet managed to apprehend the perpetrators," Kyšnerová said.
Anyone recognizing at least one of the perpetrators can call detectives on +420 725 074 416 or the 158 number in the Czech Republic.
Video footage from TV Nova’s coverage of the incident can be seen at:
http://www.romea.cz/cz/zpravodajstvi/domaci/bar-v-bystrici-pod-hostynem-agresori-butalne-zbili-roma-protoze-se-zastal-sveho-bileho-kamarada
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