Czech Republic: Romani woman files charges against neighbor for slander

The regional daily Ústecký deník has used the term “war” in
its reporting about an incident last weekend in the Krásné Březno neighborhood
of Ústí nad Labem. Police are now investigating.

The incident may have been nothing but a shouting match. Romani
resident Žaneta Gujdová has filed criminal charges against her neighbor, Jana
Hucková, for slander after Hucková told the daily that Gujdová physically
assaulted her.

The tabloid version

"Big battle in Krásné Březno, dozens of people fighting
each other there! Janáčkova Street is now under constant police monitoring as
officers address a brawl between long-term residents and Romani people as well
as charges of defaming a nation and race.” Those were the dramatic words used
by the Ústecký deník to report on the dispute between Romani and “white”
neighbors.

The daily reported that the incident became one of all
but street warfare and culminated in a physical assault. On one side of the
conflict was resident Jana Hucková. “The final incident was the result of what happened
here all day Saturday,” she told the daily. “On Saturday Municipal Police
Director Pavel Bakule came here to investigate. We sent him complaints about how
the children of our fellow citizens spend their free time. They use the window
sills of our building as a jungle gym and they kick balls at parked cars. When we
warn their parents that they have to get them under control, the parents
regularly make vulgar threats at us. We have invested no small amount of money
into this building and no one should be allowed to destroy it.”

“When Mr Bakule saw this, he said we should call him
should there be any problems. Just after he drove away, we heard some noise. My
daughter looked out the window and a local Romani man started to curse her with
vulgar language. We called Mr Bakule. The intervening officers resolved
everything,” the long-term resident said.

Hucková’s older daughter showed up to visit her after the police left. “In
front of our house the local Roma started yelling at us, ‘You white @#$%, let’s
deal with this now that you don’t have the cops with you. I’m going to bash in
your white mouth!’ I said to one of them: ‘Go home, you uncivilized brat!’ Suddenly they surrounded us. There
were about 50 of them,” Hucková said.

She then claims she was physically assaulted. “Old Gujdová
grabbed a plate and wanted to bash me with it. Then she grabbed my hair and hit
me in the face. My younger daughter did her best to defend me. Then Andrea
Dzabáková approached my daughter from behind and started to bang her head
against the façade of the building and drag her along the sidewalk. She has
bruises on her knees from it,” Hucková said.

The other side’s version

Andrea Dzabáková views what happened differently. “We
were having a party on Saturday, and I had taken a piece of cake to someone in the next
building over. When I came back out, some women from the first building
were yelling. That one woman is always provoking us. She films and photographs
our children when they are playing,” Dzabáková said. She denies that she physically
assaulted anyone.

Žaneta Gujdová confirmed that version of events to news
server Romea.cz. "There was no ‘battle’ here. They yelled at us and we
yelled at them, that’s all. The reason for the argument was the way our
neighbors treat our children. If it were up to them, our kids wouldn’t be
allowed outside at all. They film and photograph them without our consent and
constantly call the police about them for no reason. The police are always showing
up here,” Gujdová said.

Gujdová has now filed criminal charges against Hucková
for slander over the allegations published in the Ústecký deník that she
committed physical assault. "This claim that I took up a plate, grabbed Hucková
by the hair and hit her has been completely invented, it’s a total lie. The
same goes for the claim that someone physically assaulted her daughter. I filed
criminal charges to protect my good name,” Gujdová told news server Romea.cz.

CCTV system

“One patrolman
is currently at the scene monitoring the locality non-stop. We are planning to
install a CCTV system on that street,” Jan Novotný, deputy director of the municipal
police, told news server Romea.cz.

Police
spokesperson Valerie Bartošová said the case from Krásné Březno is being
investigated. “For the time being, six people are suspected of having committed
rioting, making dangerous threats, and defaming someone on the basis of nationality,
ethnicity, race or conviction. We will not provide any more information about
the case until all the witnesses have been interrogated,” she said.