Czech MP ignores mayor, visits village that has become a tabloid sensation

The situation in Strýčkovice (Domažlice district) continues to be monitored by police. Markéta Kastnerová, the mayor of Srbice, which has jurisdiction over the village, informed the Czech News Agency of that fact today. 

The mayor also said she believed the District Court had already begun proceedings in the matter of establishing guardianship over two members of a local Romani family. Police have also recently arrested and charged two men from the village over their role in a dispute with their neighbors. 

The Czech media began taking notice of the village as a result of those arrests. The disputes there culminated in three members of one family throwing rocks through the windows of another. 

"Unfortunately, similar incidents have repeatedly occurred in relation to this particular family, whose members have infringed on civil coexistence in the past. These incidents are related to the family’s dissatisfactory social situation, including the fact that two adult members of the household suffer from serious health ailments," the mayor said in a previous statement.

Many Czech media outlets have recently reported on the situation in Strýčkovice by saying the village is being terrorized by a Romani clan. "I would now like to correct the record with regard to these incidents," the mayor’s recent statement said.

"There is one Romani family living in the village, a mother and her four sons. There are no other members of the Romani minority and no other socially vulnerable citizens living there," the mayor of Srbice said of the situation in Strýčkovice.  

In her statement, released last Friday, the mayor asked the media not to escalate the situation in the village. "I would therefore like to call on all political representatives who are planning to visit Strýčkovice not to do so. I request that all people who intend to express their opinion of this situation do so by helping us to calm it, not to escalate it," the statement also reads.

The mayor was responding to the announcement that Czech MP Tomio Okamura, the chair of the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit) movement, was planning to visit the village, a visit which Okamura undertook over her objections. His appearance was preceded by statements criticizing "inadaptable" citizens, including statements about "Romani clans terrorizing" the village. 

The men now indicted, David and Ladislav Matuš, have testified to a court in Domažlice on charges of attempted grievous bodily harm. According to the indictment, they assaulted a local man, Jiří Sýkora, by beating him with a wooden joist and kicking him.  

"I never had any such stick in my hands and I beat up no one. Sýkora cursed us out, calling us filth and gyppos. I saw the brawl, David was scuffling with Sýkora, but there was no big violence. I told them to knock it off," news server iDNES.cz reports that Ladislav Matuš testified in court. 

"For quite some time we have increased our patrols in the village to ensure public order and safety, given the situation," Regional Police spokesperson Hana Štefflová told the Czech News Agency today. Mayor Kastnerová said she will continue to address the situation with the leadership of the village, with the police, and with the citizens if necessary –  "I cannot accept the repetition of such incidents," she told the Czech News Agency.