Slovakia: Romani man from Czech Republic and others beaten by 20 skinheads

The Slovak media are reporting that allegedly as many as 20 skinhead
attackers brutally beat up a Romani man from the Czech Republic at a party in
the Central Slovakian town of Banská Štiavnica. The man lost consciousness as a
result of the brawl. Two Georgians and the man’s girlfriend, who is a local
resident, were also targeted for attack. It is not yet clear whether the
conflict was racially motivated.

The incident occurred on the evening of Saturday 6 April at a local
discotheque. There was some discord between two girls and shortly thereafter the
brawl was unleashed. The Georgians and the Romani man were working in the town,
the Georgians as part of an EU-sponsored volunteer program.

The assailants beat Romani victim Pavel H. to such a degree that he lost
consciousness twice. They also broke his girlfriend’s nose. The injured girl is
filing criminal charges and the Georgians are considering informing their
embassy of the incident.

Witnesses claim the attackers pushed their victims to the ground and kicked
them wildly. None of the discotheque’s other customers or its staff came to the
aid of the victims. Discotheque owner Zuzana Kaníková insists her security
personnel did what they could, but believes they had no “powers” to intervene
against the attackers out on the street.

The Georgian volunteers are not able to say with 100 % certainty whether the
assault was racially motivated, but they do have the feeling that the brutality
of the attack was caused by the fact that they are foreigners. Both of the
Georgians are dark-skinned and spoke English at the start of the incident.

"My friend from Georgia got punched inside and his colleague came to his
defense. Then everything went down very fast. The conflict moved into the
vestibule, then the bouncers sent us outside and the assailants went out after
us. I was struck from behind and that’s the last thing I remember. Maybe the
fact that I was unconscious is what spared me,” Pavel H. told news server
Sme.sk.

“The most I can tell you is that we really are not able to confirm that this
was racially motivated. However, the fact that it was 30 against three is
completely unacceptable,” victim Pavel H. told Czech Radio.

Pavel H. had previously worked in Banská Štiavnica as a volunteer before
being hired there as an auto mechanic. “I have never had this big of a problem
anywhere before. I am planning to keep on living here and I’m a bit afraid for
my safety now,” he admitted.