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Czech Republic: Locals condemn arson attack on Roma

22 October 2012
3 minute read

Earlier this week a nighttime Molotov cocktail attack was committed against a house on railway property occupied by Roma in Krty (Rakovník district). One man suffered second-degree burns as a result. The Molotov cocktail landed in the bedroom on the cot where the family’s young daughter usually sleeps. Fortunately, she was sleeping in her parents’ bed that evening. A total of 12 people were in the house at the time of the attack. Local people have unanimously condemned the incident.

The mother of the one-year-old girl and other women in the house heard the sound of someone using a lighter outside. “Whoever it was tried to get it to light about three times. Then grandmother saw the Molotov cocktail flying into our window. The fire immediately spread throughout the entire living room, the lacquered furniture started to burn rapidly. My husband just grabbed our little Kristýna and we ran outside. It was pure luck Kristýna was not sleeping in her own bed. It would have landed on her head,” the mother says.

The local edition of daily Deník.cz reports that locals have condemned the crime and are asking who could be behind such a deplorable attack. Was it a local person? Was it someone from a nearby village or from the town of Jesenice? Have extremist groups made it to the Rakovník district?

Locals believe whoever attacked the house must have known the family was living there, but do not believe it could have been a resident of the village. “Definitely not. We all get along well that that family. I don’t believe a local person did this,” one resident said on condition of anonymity, a request that is not surprising. Residents are concerned they may be attacked next. None of them in their darkest dreams ever imagined something like this could happen in their tiny community.

The atmosphere in Krty is familial. Home to just over 100 people, everyone gets along in the town and helps one another out. “Naturally there is no way to know who did this, but I firmly believe the police will investigate. We’re all related here, we’re like a family, that’s why we immediately ruled out the idea that a local person could have done this,” Vice-Mayor Jan Brda said of Wednesday’s incident. “The family that was attacked has lived here 20 years and there has never been any conflict with them. If they need something, the municipality will do its best, the maximum, to help them.”

The Romani family living in the house where the entire drama took place also wants to know why someone wanted to hurt them. “I really do not know for what purpose or why that person or persons did it. We’ve never had any conflicts with anyone, I haven’t done anything bad to anyone,” the father of the family said. Police say the attack could have been a mistake, as the house was apparently occupied by someone else until just recently.

The victimized family is now afraid, even though the father says police officers have told them the perpetrators are not likely to return. None of them can sleep at night. “I’m afraid, you don’t know when someone is going to try something like this again,” the father said. “It wasn’t until we had put out the fire and everything was over that I realized what all might have happened. It’s horrible, really horrible.”

Similar attacks recently occurred in Býchory (Kolín district) and Nýrsko (Klatovy district). In Býchory a house occupied by Roma was attacked with a lit torch. No one was physically injured because the fire was put out in time. In Nýrsko, two racists broke into an apartment occupied by Roma and almost killed the father of the family by beating him with a wooden bat and kicking him.

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