Czech Republic: Protest tomorrow in Teplice honors Romani murder victim

"If you care about why our people are being murdered, if you care about your children’s future, come and let’s say ENOUGH together!" This is the motto of a demonstration to be held in the North Bohemian town of Teplice tomorrow, 14 June, at 15:30.

The demonstration is a direct response to the recent murder in Teplice which local Roma are unequivocally saying was racially motivated (see http://www.romea.cz/en/news/czech/czech-republic-media-downplay-last-weekend-s-racist-murder). For the time being, everything indicates that police and the town leadership are doing their best to suppress information about the murder. 

Police are now maintaining a strict silence about the case. There are strong suspicions that what happened was the racially motivated murder of a Romani man by a non-Romani man. This contrasts to usual behavior of the police when Romani people are alleged to have committed crimes; in those cases police are very willing to inform the public of all the details.  

Romani residents of Teplice recently organized a meeting at which they planned to deliver a report to the Mayor of Teplice, Jaroslav Kuber. When they arrived for the meeting, they were first informed that the mayor was no longer in the office; then, after some time, the mayor left the building and drove away, refusing to speak with the surviving relatives of the murder victim. 

The invitation to tomorrow’s demonstration says it will be a peaceful assembly "Against Intolerance" to honor the memory of our brother Mr Ivan Jarek. The demonstration will take place at the site of his demise in Teplice, in front of the town hall (address náměstí Svobody 2), between 15:30 and 17:30.

Come to the demonstration and express your opinion. You will hear the names of the victims of recent racially motivated murders there.