Czech Republic: Reward offered for information about assailants in Děčín

Notorious con artist Lukáš Kohout is planning an anti-Romani demonstration in the town of Děčín next week. The pretext for the assembly is an assault perpetrated in front of the Calipso gaming room there in which the primary aggressor was Romani.

Drahomír Radek Horváth lives in Děčín and knows the victim of the attack very well. He believes it is completely absurd for an anti-Romani march to be organized because of the incident.

"I am Romani myself and I know that [the victim] R.V. has rather a lot of acquaintances and friends among Romani people in Děčín. The person convening this anti-Romani march probably doesn’t even know who R.V. is," Horváth told news server Romea.cz.  

Horváth is convinced that more than one assailant was involved in this incident and has decided to offer a reward of CZK 5 000 for information leading to the revelation of the identity of the perpetrators and their conviction. News server Romea.cz presents his full statement on the attack and the upcoming anti-Romani demonstration in Děčín here:  

Statement by Drahomír Radek Horváth on the recent attack and the upcoming anti-Romani demonstration in Děčín 

I have known R.V. for at least 25 years – he is not just a casual acquaintance of mine, but a real friend. We grew up together in the Old Town quarter of Děčín.

R.V. is a good guy and we have been through a lot together – many parties and lots of dancing at the Kokus back in the day, or at the Chlum and elsewhere. When we were younger we roamed around a lot looking to meet girls, and whenever there was a brawl in a pub, there were not many cases when someone managed to bring one of our bunch down to the ground.

On the contrary, back then we were recognized as guys whom there was no point in trying to fight. For the last 20 years each of us has been living the orderly life of a father and taxpayer, and we only recall the events of our wild youth whenever we happen to run into each other.  

I am Romani myself and I know that R.V. has rather a lot of acquaintances and friends among Romani people in Děčín. The person convening this anti-Romani march [Lukáš Kohout] probably doesn’t even know who R.V. is.

I doubt he knows anything about R.V., and I doubt he knows anything about the unsavory brawl at the Calipso. I doubt that most of the people who are clicking away on Facebook to say they will attend the march in question know anything about R.V. or know him at all.

Lukáš Kohout will be coming here from a town that is 40 kilometers away, without any knowledge of local conditions – everything he knows about this specific scandal he will have cribbed from the daily Děčínský deník and from no other source, all so he can launch his election campaign here. There is no point in further analyzing the person who is convening this event or the march itself.    

Even though the victim, R.V., is Czech and I am Romani, I am very concerned about the state of his health because, as I said before, he is my friend. I have spoken by telephone with our mutual friends and I have sought out his brother to  learn whether it might be possible to visit him in the hospital in Ústí nad Labem to which he has been transferred from the local hospital.

I chatted for a long time with his ex-wife, whom I have also known personally for years and I know he underwent an operation yesterday and what his current state of health is. Paradoxically, I do not know the Romani assailants involved, even though they are Romani like me.

I don’t know their identities and I doubt any of my Romani friends would ever commit such brutality. The name of one of the assailants, which has been released by the Police of the Czech Republic because he is in custody for his connivance in this scandal, is also unfamiliar to me.  

According to the Czech Police, there was evidently more than one assailant and only one has been captured and charged while the rest are still at large. After careful consideration, taking into account my own modest financial options, I am offering a REWARD of CZK 5 000 for information that will lead to revealing the identity of the other attackers and their conviction!