Czech Republic: 200+ people attend funeral of Romani man who died after police intervention, protest march planned

Ludovít Kašpar, a Romani man who died recently in Kynšperk after a police intervention against him, was buried today. Human rights activist Markus Pape of the Europe Roma CZ association attended the funeral and reported to news server Romea.cz that many Romani people from all over the region were there.

Romani people are planning a protest march in Kynšperk. “The family did not want any conflicts or marches to take place on the day of the funeral,” Pape said. The march will therefore take place at another time. It will not be organized by the family of the deceased, but by Romani residents from Karlovy Vary, Sokolov, and surrounding areas who attended the funeral. For the time being it is not known when the event will take place.

Pape reported that some of the Romani mourners in attendance today were surprised that no politicians were in attendance and that there was no media coverage of the funeral. “The local Polish priest called for reconciliation during the service. The family was inside the church, and more than 200 guys were standing outside. The women were weeping desperately. The mourners were saying that this wasn’t a murder, it was an execution. The Kalejovec family from Cheb played the final farewell song at the graveside on two accordions and a violin: ‘Šukar so viben’,” Pape told news server Romea.cz.

“One of the police officers who is alleged to have beaten up Ludovít Kašpar drove past the cemetery at the moment the mourners were leaving on foot, and he de facto laughed down at them all,” Pape said. Locals have nicknamed that particular officer Vajíčko (“Little Egg”) and have had bad experiences with him and other officers. Pape said Romani residents do not believe the case will be impartially investigated. According to them, arbitrary police behavior is a matter of course there. According to what Pape has learned from local people, police officers reportedly also beat up a Czech woman recently who had also, like Kašpar, done nothing wrong. There is reportedly concern among Romani residents that the witness to Kašpar’s arrest will refuse to testify out of fear or will change his testimony.

Ludovít Kašpar of Kynšperk nad Ohří was a 33-year-old father of three children. He passed away on Sunday, 6 May 2012 at the hospital in Sokolov. According to his testimony, he was beaten up by intervening police officers prior to his hospitalization.

Ján Sivák, who is Kašpar’s father-in-law, described the incident to Romea.cz, based on what he has heard from eyewitnesses, as follows: “Ludovít was mildly tipsy and he elbowed some woman – he didn’t harm her at all, but she called the police. The officers arrived, handcuffed him, and started beating and kicking him. They are said to have used either stun guns or truncheons, it’s not clear yet.”

Romea.cz has done its best to get the other side’s point of view. Police in Kynšperk nad Ohří referred us to the spokesperson for Sokolov district, who referred us to the spokesperson for the Karlovy Vary region, who referred us to the Inspector-General of the Security Forces, which is now investigating the case. Spokesperson Radka Sandorová had no comment to make on the case, saying it is under investigation and that any remarks made now would be purely speculative.

Andrea Kávová of the Karlovy Vary Regional Police Directorate said the following to the local daily, Karlovarský deník: “We got a call that the man concerned was attacking people. After the officers arrived, he attacked them as well. That is why they used force against him and handcuffed him. At that moment he lost consciousness and was unresponsive.”

Barbora Silná, spokesperson for the regional emergency medical services, confirmed to Romea.cz that they had been called to Kynšperk nad Ohří. “Just before midnight our crew, including a nurse, set out for the scene. A doctor was then also called there. He told me that after he arrived at the scene, the officers present were resuscitating the man concerned.”

Ján Sivák, Kašpar’s father-in-law, has different information about that moment: “According to my information, the officers drove away without helping him. The witness who called the ambulance saw them leave. The ambulance arrived and the crew did its best to revive him.”

Kašpar’s heart had stopped and he wasn’t breathing. After roughly 20 minutes, doctors managed to revive him. “We took him to the intensive care unit at the Sokolov hospital. He had numerous welts on his body,” Silná said.For the time being it is not known what caused the man’s heart to stop, nor is the cause or origin of the welts known. According to Sivák, Ludovít Kašpar had left his home that evening in fine health without a scratch on him.

Some media outlets reported on the case on Sunday without mentioning that the man concerned is of Romani origin. They did, however, report the claims that the man had been aggressive – without bothering to verify them.

“This is interesting – when a Romani guy gets into a fight at school with a white guy, the newspapers are immediately full of reports about how poorly raised Romani children are. Newspapers and television are constantly feeding the public cases of Romani people committing violence, some of which are even fabricated. This reporting is completely disproportionate to the number of crimes committed by Romani people versus those committed by majority-society people. However, when a Romani man is attacked, his ethnicity is not publicized. Instead, they write that he was an aggressive man whom officers arrested in accordance with the law – he just happened to collapse on them when they were handcuffing him,” said a Romani man who was involved in the incident, but does not want to give his name.