Czech Republic: Racist gang attacks Romani man in Havířov
A 30-year-old Romani man from the Czech town of Havířov was assaulted Saturday night by a group of attackers who are said to have racially abused him. The victim escaped by fleeing into the garden of a house that happened to belong to a District Court judge.
The judge’s family called the police, but the assailants managed to flee. News server Deník.cz and the regional television station Polar reported the incident.
The attack occurred on Saturday night when the man and his girlfriend were returning to the Merkur Hotel complex. "My girlfriend and I were walking back from the greengrocer’s. We crossed the road. They began to shout at us that we were black monkeys, ‘Die monkeys!’ We hid in the bushes. My girlfriend managed to get away, but they found me in the bushes and began kicking me," victim Roman. F, who managed to flee and did his best to hide again, told the Polar television station.
When his assailants found him a second time, he fled into the garden of a nearby house and knocked on the window. "Someone knocked on the window that night. I opened it and a man was there asking for help. He was completely covered in blood and claimed he had been beaten and asked us to call the police," the wife of the homeowner told news server Deník.cz.
She and her daughter also saw four youths coming up the road. "I believe they had been drinking alcohol. They said we needed to bring him outside so they could settle their score with him. One of them had blood on his face. I called the police," her daughter said.
Polar reported that Roman F. suffered a laceration to his head, almost broke his nose and had various contusions. The case is now being investigated by the Czech Police.
Deník.cz reports that police have not yet decided whether to investigate the incident as racially motivated bodily harm. "Officers are finding the available information, tracking down clues, and gradually interrogating the victims and the witnesses," police spokesperson Zlatuše Viačková said.
