Czech President Petr Pavel expresses his appreciation for ROMEA's approach to covering the Brno tragedy: All violence has to be condemned, we must approach such matters with cool heads
Czech President Petr Pavel has commented on yesterday's assembly in Brno over the death of a Romani man after a conflict with a Ukrainian national, saying he does not consider it to have been a completely fortunate event. On the other hand, he did express appreciation for the approach taken by the ROMEA organization to its reporting and the approach of Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs, Lucie Fuková.
Pavel made the remarks to CNN Prima News. According to Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (Mayors and Independents – STAN), it is important that police investigate the attack without being subjected to exterior pressure and that the culprit be punished.
At Saturday’s assembly in Brno to honor the deceased, some present made remarks against all Ukrainians. Pavel stressed that this incident has to be assessed by cool heads, as in his view the emotions are exacerbated on all sides.
It is necessary to unequivocally condemn any such act of violence and to thoroughly investigate what happened, the president said. “There are some circumstances indicating this wasn’t black-and-white, it’s necessary for us to have a clear picture,” he said.
“However, that does not erase the fact that what happened was either manslaughter or murder, depending on how the facts will eventually be evaluated, and the repercussions of the crime must unequivocally be inferred, including for its punishment. That should happen irrespective of who was involved,” the president said.
Pavel said it is necessary that people not generalize and not turn the matter into a nationality or race-related problem. He also said the demonstration convened by the Romani community in Brno is not something he considers to have been completely fortunate.
“Some of the appearances there did nothing to aid the Romani community or the cause of an objective perspective on the situation. On the other hand, for example, the approach taken by the ROMEA organization or Czech Government Commissioner Fuková led in the direction of not stirring up tensions,” the head of state told CNN Prima NEWS.
Speaking during the CNN Prima news discussion show “Partie“, Interior Minister Rakušan subsequently said there is a need to show the Czech public that the police are able to protect them from criminals. In his view, the culprit has to be punished irrespective of who it is.
The police officers, according to the Interior Minister, are doing their jobs professionally. Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Marian Jurečka (Christian Democrats – KDU-ČSL) added that politicians should not exploit the situation by supporting hate in society.
According to a vice-chair of the Chamber of Deputies, Czech MP Klára Dostálová (ANO), the Government should have responded more quickly to the incident so people didn’t get the feeling that it was standing more on the side of one group or the other. On 10 June, shortly before the start of the Ignis Brunensis fireworks festival at the Brno Reservoir, a 37-year-old foreign national, identified by the media as a Ukrainian, stabbed two people during an altercation.
One of the Romani youths who was injured subsequently died in hospital. The police arrested the suspect on the spot and a court remanded him into custody on Tuesday.
The stabbing has sparked a sense of grievance among some Romani people as well as an anti-Ukrainian reaction. Yesterday about 1000 people gathered in the center of Brno to commemorate the deceased.
Some people there criticized the Government and its approach to the Ukrainians who are fleeing Russian aggression and seeking temporary protection in the Czech Republic. They chanted “We don’t want them here!” and called for Ukrainians to “go back home and fight”; Jozef Daniel, director of the Brno Team initiative, which organized the assembly, rejected the principle of collective guilt more than once in his role as moderator.
