Czech Republic: Shooter of Romani man faces between 12 and 20 years if convicted

The non-Romani man who shot a 34-year-old Romani man dead on Saturday, 27 May in the early morning hours was charged with murder yesterday. A detective was also scheduled to send a motion to the Regional State Prosecutor in Ústí nad Labem for him to be remanded into custody.

Police spokesperson Daniel Vítek announced the charges yesterday. "According to the findings of the ongoing investigation, a man (born in 1980) heard noise on the street during the night and looked out of the window of the apartment building where he was to see a van running into parked cars and into the people standing in front of the building on the sidewalk," he said.

"Immediately afterward he exited the building carrying a legally licensed weapon and went onto the street in front of the building where he began to shoot at the car, which was driving past him exactly at that moment. The driver (born 1983) of the van was shot more than once and suffered serious injuries, as a result of which he died at the scene," the police spokesperson described the findings so far.

Police officers called to the scene then, according to the spokesperson, immediately arrested the suspect, who waited for the patrol to arrive at the scene of the crime and admitted having fired the weapon. "Subsequently a criminal proceeding was begun in this matter and today, before noon, prosecution of the detainee was initiated for aggravated homicide," the spokesperson said, adding that a detective was also scheduled to send a motion to the Regional State Prosecutor in Ústí nad Labem for the accused to be remanded into custody.

Should the man be found guilty of committing the crime of which he is charged, he faces a prison sentence of between 12 and 20 years. The tragic incident happened on Jirkovská Street in Chomutov at about 3 AM on Saturday 27 May.

An argument was happening on the street between two Romani men. The non-Romani man then came out of the building and began to shoot at the Romani people, as news server Romea.cz reported yesterday, because he was upset about the noise on the street.