Czech Republic: "Crisis team" convened in Břeclav after press claims victim of attack sold drugs

After news server iDNES.cz published new information Friday from its investigation into the attack committed last month against a 15-year-old boy in Břeclav, a “crisis team” held an emergency meeting in the town yesterday evening. Experts addressed the tense situation in the town and, after several hours of negotiations, established a new team to focus on security there. Patrik Banga, a member of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs, has informed news server Romea.cz of the meeting.

The new security team has seven members, including Mayor Oldřich Ryšavý, local police spokesperson Zdeněk Novák, local police chief František Klimus, and Patrik Banga. None of the experts or town representatives wanted to officially comment on the new revelations or on the course of the investigation. Police are staying quiet.

The meeting started yesterday around 20:00 and ended at 1 AM this morning. It was originally scheduled for next week, but after the publication of new information indicating that a motive for the assault on the boy could have been linked to his selling of marijuana, it was pushed up. The boy and his mother are said to have resolutely rejected the allegations published by iDNES.cz and are insisting the boy has nothing to do with drugs.

“We addressed questions of security in Břeclav. Neither the municipality nor the team members can comment on the current developments of the investigation or the work of the police. We must all wait until the detectives release a statement on this matter,” Banga told news server Romea.cz.

“The situation in Břeclav after the attack on the 15-year-old boy has escalated and we are doing our best to calm it. There has been a meeting of experts from the field of psychology, nonprofit and state organizations, and representatives of the local and state police and the town,” Břeclav town hall spokesperson Eliška Windová told news server iDNES.cz.

For the time being, police have not yet refuted the information revealed by news server iDNES.cz that 15-year-old Petr had been selling marijuana and that the motive for the assault on him could have been a dispute with a customer. The information was independently confirmed to the editors of iDNES.cz on Friday by three different sources close to the official investigation.

Břeclav police chief František Klimus, who attended the emergency meeting, has not commented on it. “I cannot comment on all the versions of the investigation or on the information in the media,” he told iDNES.cz.

The incident took place in April near the Břeclav Shopping Center. The victim has claimed that three men asked him for a cigarette and beat him up when he didn’t have one. He first claimed the three men were Romani, then said he had not actually seen the faces of two of his assailants, but that the person he did see was Romani. From the start of the investigation, Romani residents of Břeclav have insisted their community has nothing to do with the attack.