Czech capital to see demonstration for Stanislav Tomáš today expressing disagreement with police intervention and support for local community

On Wednesday 30 June at 18:00 on Palacké náměstí in Prague, Czech Republic there will be a demonstration for Stanislav Tomáš, who died on 19 June after an intervention by police in Teplice. “The Police of the Czech Republic, supported by the Interior Ministry, are refusing to take any responsibility for his death. The question is not whether Stanislav was sober, but whether it is acceptable to kneel on a person’s neck for more than five minutes. We say that it is not. Discrimination against Romani people by the police is constant and we consider this scandal to be the tip of the iceberg,” say the organizers of the event, which is called “Roma Lives Matter” and is being held by the Anarchist Federation.   

At the gathering, demonstrators plan to express their support for the community in Teplice and their disagreement with the intervention by police and the subsequent reactions of public officials. “The authorities, without any independent investigation of this intervention, have not hesitated to adopt a stance that supports police brutality and limits attention to the victim’s criminal record and drug use,” the organizers say.