Prague, Saturday: Roma and Ukrainians will jointly honor the memory of the Romani man stabbed to death in Brno last weekend

“We want to draw attention to the fact that xenophobic violence is on the rise and, together with our Ukrainian friends, we want to honor the memory of the Romani man killed in Brno,” Karel Karika, a council member for the Ústí nad Labem-Město Municipal Department, told news server Romea.cz. The event is being convened by the Czechoslovak Romani Union (Československá romská unie) and PULS Evropy in cooperation with the Vlax Romani Union (Unie olašských Romů).

“We’ve divided up the work, we will be in Prague and representatives of the Vlax Romani Union will calm the situation down in Brno,” Karika said. The tragedy transpired in Brno last weekend and the information available so far is neither detailed nor verified.

What likely happened is that Romani and Ukrainian men got into an altercation during which one of the Romani men was killed. After a local remembrance event in Brno, several of those who attended then assaulted two men sitting outdoors and speaking either Russian or Ukrainian by throwing chairs at them.

That incident transpired at a local restaurant on Dominikánské Square. Žaneta Plachetková, the convener of a demonstration this coming Saturday in Brno, distanced herself from the attack on those speaking Russian/Ukrainian and also canceled the Saturday gathering meant to respond to the death of the Romani youth at the Brno Reservoir.

“I am clearly saying to everybody that I am against collective guilt. People also tar all of us Roma with the same brush and I reject that,” Plachetková said, becoming yet another Romani figure to condemn the idea of collective guilt and attacks on that basis after similar statements were made by the Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková, local politician Karel Karika, and the activist Jaroslav Miko.