Czech Police charge Romani youth with threatening to burn down pizzeria where another Romani man died in October

A 19-year-old Romani man has been accused of using his personal Facebook profile to make threats against the employees of the Panamera Pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec, saying he would burn the business down after another young Romani man died there in mid-October following a scuffle with other customers and a police intervention. The man who made the threats is in custody and faces prison time if convicted.

His trial will take place on 7 December in Louny. “They were strongly emotional after the death in the pizzeria. He did not mean any of that seriously. He made a mistake and he wants to apologize for it,” the father of the accused told news server Romea.cz.

The youth is currently in contact with the state Probation and Mediation Services, which also endeavors to settle disputes between persons accused of crimes and their alleged victims, but Police do not want to comment on the case yet. “Investigation of this entire matter has not yet been completed by the Police of the Czech Republic, and because of that we will not provide you information about any part of it,” Jana Slámová, head of the press department at the Ústecký Regional Police Directorate, told news server Romea.cz.