Czech court sentences those involved in the Pardubice street brawl: The two Roma must do community service, the Ukrainian got prison time, suspended for 1.5 years
Two of the Romani men who participated in a street brawl at the start of the summer holidays in Pardubice, Czech Republic between Romani people and Ukrainians have been sentenced to performing 150 and 200 hours of community service work, respectively. The Ukrainian who was involved has been given a prison sentence of seven months, suspended for 1.5 years.
Karel Gobernac, a judge at the District Court in Pardubice, informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK) of the news. “The decision has yet to take effect, but the court order has been delivered to two of the convicts, while the last convict, who is the Ukrainian, has yet to take delivery of it,” Gobernac said.
According to the legal qualification in the indictment, all of those involved could have been sentenced to up to two years in prison. During the brawl at the intersection of Anenská and Karla IV. Streets on 1 July, one of the Romani men was lightly injured, as previously reported by news server Romea.cz.
Hundreds of Romani people convened a demonstration the next day calling for their safety on the streets of the town. The day after that, representatives of the municipality, the police, the Romani community and the Ukrainian community met in Pardubice.
Police spokesperson Markéta Janovská said that all of the parties concerned agreed during that meeting that the conflict on Anenská Street was not the result of long-lasting disputes between the communities but was an isolated incident.
