Romani youth attacked by police in Czech Republic

05 December 2000

The Czech Press Agency and the Czech daily Mladá Fronta Dnes reported on September 18 and 19, respectively, that on the evening of September 17, 2000, police officers attacked a young Romani man named Martin T. in the southeast Czech town of Brno. Martin was reportedly sitting in the park at Slovanské square, around 8:00 PM, when a police officer in civilian clothes approached. According to the daily, Martin recognised the police officer from previous identity card checks. The police officer sat down beside Martin, and reportedly started to stare at him. Martin asked why the officer was staring at him, and the officer reportedly grabbed him by the neck and threw him on the ground. Ten minutes later a police patrol came by and asked to see Martin's identity card. When Martin asked them to check his identity by radio, all three of the officers reportedly kicked and punched him. Martin returned home, and went with his mother to the doctor and obtained a statement that he was incapable of work for more than a week.

began to shout at him. The officer called two colleagues, and suspecting that Martin was under the influence of drugs, asked to see his identity card. Martin was not carrying his card, but told them his name, which they checked by radio. Then, according to the police spokesperson, the officers told Martin to behave properly and left him. on September 21, 2000, that he had a copy of the testimony Martin had given to the police and that he was following the case. Brno police spokesperson Mr Mr Zdeněk Lubáš confirmed that the police are investigating the case, but refused to provide further information.

(Czech Press Agency, ERRC, Mladá Fronta Dnes)