Poland: Attempted robbery results in death, racist unrest
Polish Police have chargd a 26-year-old Tunisian man with murder after the stabbing death of a 21-year-old Polish man on New Year’s Eve sparked racial unrest in the town of Elk in the northeast of the country. Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported yesterday that police arrested 28 people who were involved in the unrest on Sunday.
The murdered Polish man has been identified by the authorities only as “Daniel” and is said to have gotten into an argument with an employee of a kebab restaurant on New Year’s Eve. According to State Prosecutor Wojciech Piktel, authorities are not absolutely clear on how the argument and subsequent attack happened.
Reportedly, it seems the Polish man wanted to steal two bottles from the restaurant. The chef is then said to have stabbed the 21-year-old with a knife.
Detectives gave a press conference, according to the online edition of Gazeta Wyborcza, in which they then clarified that two Polish people had first entered the bistro, one of whom attempted to steal two bottles. Two employees of the restaurant chased them onto the street, where they brawled, and one of the Polish people suffered two stab wounds.
The other Polish youth then allegedly threw firecrackers at the business. Czech news server iDNES.cz reports that both of the Polish people had criminal records.
In addition to charging the Tunisian man involved, police have arrested two other people, one from Algeria and one from Morocco. The case sparked protests in Elk.
Several hundred people assembled in front of the restaurant on Sunday, some of whom threw cobblestones and rocks at the business and shouted racist slogans. Police did not intervene against the racists at first, later arresting 28 protesters on charges of rioting and vandalism.
