Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan: Police are investigating the incident in Brno, don't let yourselves be manipulated to inciting hatred
Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan tweeted today about the tragic incident in Brno resulting in the death of a young Romani man. He said police are investigating the case through standard methods and warned that the principle of collective guilt is reprehensible, just as many Romani figures have.
“The death in Brno on Saturday is being investigated by the police through standard methods. Like every tragic event, this one is also sparking emotions. I want to call on everybody not to allow themselves to be manipulated, under the influence of those completely understandable emotions, by those who will want to exploit the reprehensible actions of a single individual to cause an outburst of intolerance against any group in the population here. The principle of collective guilt is just as reprehensible as violence itself,” he posted to Twitter.
The tragedy struck in Brno-Bystrc near the Přístaviště tram stop last Saturday evening. Several persons got into an argument there that escalated into a scuffle during which a foreign national from Ukraine harmed two men with a knife.
A 23-year-old Romani youth succumbed to his injuries later in hospital. A demonstration will be held on Saturday at 14:00 CET in Brno called “For the Security of Citizens of the Czech Republic” over the incident.
Several experts and Romani figures are concerned that the demonstration will become a platform for the dissemination of hatred against temporarily protected Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. The principle of collective guilt was rejected yesterday by Czech Government Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková, Romani activist Jaroslav Miko, and Alena Gronzíková, a volunteer civil society member of the Czech Government Council for Romani Minority Affairs.
