Czech trial in the murder of a Romani man: Defendant claims self-defense, injured parties say he assaulted them, next hearings in the new year

The injured parties testified that Rohozin shouted at them while they were all on a tram together and threatened them with his fists. According to them, he provoked the ensuing altercation.

The prosecutor said after the hearing that he considers the testimonies of eyewitnesses unrelated to either side to be crucial, as well as the testimonies of expert witnesses, who will speak in January. The murder victim was a Romani man, and the June tragedy led to tensions between some Romani people and some Ukrainians.

If convicted, the 37-year-old foreign national faces up to 18 years in prison. The hearing ended at around noon and will continue with the presentation of evidence in late January 2024.

The next hearing is expected to take two days. Prosecutor Petr Bejšovec arrived at the Regional Court in Brno just before 9 AM.

Judge Dita Řepková allowed media to film and photograph only on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, where two eyewitnesses to the fatal altercation, E. D. and M. D., were waiting, accompanied by their family and friends. Neither Rohozin nor his attorney showed up on the sidewalk outside the courthouse prior to the start of the trial, but once journalists were allowed to enter the courtroom and forbidden to film or photograph there, Rohozin and his attorney arrived, escorted by bailiffs.

Injured parties: The man shouted at us on the tram and threatened us with his fists

According to the first injured party in the case of the Romani man who was stabbed to death near the Brno Reservoir, the defendant threatened them with his fists more than once after they all exited the tram. According to the first injured party, the group of which he was a part had been drinking and smoking on the tram.

“The defendant shouted at us, asked us what we were doing and threatened us with his fists. We got off the tram and he came up to us, heading in the direction of the Přístaviště stop. He shoved me and got a punch in return from me and from two others,” the second injured party described the conflict.

After that they walked along the road and the conflict continued, according to the second injured party. He did not see the defendant draw his knife and claims the defendant stabbed his victims from behind.

The second injured party said the three men only assaulted the defendant after he provoked them. He testified that a group of 15 or 16 people had been listening to music, singing and smoking on the tram when the man shouted at them.

The second injured party also testified that he had covered his face so the CCTV cameras would not capture him. He added that he now faces assault charges himself.

“We were on the tram, we were smoking and listening to music, a group of about 15 or 16 people. We argued with the gentleman who started shouting at us to stop singing, he started yelling at us. Then we got off the tram and that was where we assaulted him,” the second injured party described.

According to the second injured party, the defendant was struck three times, and the second injured party never saw whether or not he had a knife. The second injured party was injured by the defendant’s knife on his hand, where he still has a small scar.

“I didn’t notice it. I didn’t even notice if it was done with a knife,” the second injured party testified.

The second injured party said the defendant had been aggressive and threatened them with his fists. He also testified that the group had been drinking alcohol on the tram and that he himself consumed what was probably the equivalent of a bottle of vodka.

“We got off the tram and he was three, about three meters away from us, and he walked toward us. Once he got near me, I punched him, and so did Nikolas. That was all good, but as we were walking up the street it started again. He claimed that we assaulted him a second time there, that we kicked him, but that’s not true at all,” the first injured party described what happened to news server Romea.cz.

“He attacked us, he stabbed me below the shoulder blade, I ended up in Bohunice in the hospital. I still have a scar there, I’ll have that scar the rest of my life,” the first injured party told Romea.cz in the corridor of the courthouse.

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Defendant claims self-defense

The defendant testified that he defended himself when he was punched by a small group of people with whom he had a conflict on the tram and that he feared for his life. He pulled his knife to defend himself but didn’t know he had stabbed anybody with it, he testified to the Regional Court in Brno.

The defendant spoke through an interpreter. He described traveling with friends by tram to the fireworks show at the reservoir when a small group of other passengers started making a lot of noise.

According to the defendant, the group was playing music, making noise, and swinging on the straps people hold onto while the train is in motion. “Once it became unbearable, I asked them to stop,” the defendant testified.

A conflict then erupted on the tram, according to the defendant, during which he heard people in the group shouting abuse at him, and after everybody exited the tram, the conflict continued. The defendant testified that three people assaulted him.

“I was punched on the left side of my head and on the right side of my head behind my ear. I attempted to push them away, but they began to beat me even more forcefully. I covered my eyes and nose and was punched in my ear, the back of my neck, and in the chest. My ears started to ring, I was seeing stars and I could barely make out the silhouettes of anything around me. I felt horrible, they could have killed me,” Rohozin testified.

The defendant said that it was at that moment that he recalled he had a kitchen knife in his backpack, and he pulled it out so the assailants would leave him alone. “I covered myself, I slashed with it from side to side a couple of times, then I heard shouting,” he said.

Rohozin testified that he felt no resistance when he slashed the knife and never saw any blood on his hand. He then went to look for his friends and was stopped by a police officer.

“It was self-defense, I never intended to injure anybody or even to make contact, I didn’t even know I’d hit somebody,” the defendant testified in court.

Prosecutor considers eyewitness testimonies crucial

Prosecutor Bejšovec told journalists after the hearing that he considers the testimonies of eyewitnesses unrelated to either side to be crucial and that the court plans to hear them in January, as well as expert witness testimonies. The hearing is scheduled for 25 and 26 January and it is anticipated that closing arguments could be made on the 26th, with the court possibly also ruling that same day.

“The hearings are halfway through, it is difficult for me to comment on them in detail right now. The eyewitness testimonies which will come in the next hearing will be crucial. These will be eyewitnesses whom I consider independent, who had an opportunity to observe the entire situation. The task before the court in this case is rather difficult, because essentially it has to determine the degree of necessary defense, which is quite a complex legal question. There is nothing to be done but to wait for the court’s final decision based on this evidence,” Bejšovec said.

When asked whether he still insists this incident was one of murder, the prosecutor replied that he has not yet heard any reason to change the charges. He also said that if he were to change the final legal qualification of the charges proposed, the court should hear it from him first, not journalists.

Presiding Judge Dita Řepková indicated at the close of the hearing that the eyewitnesses proposed by the prosecution should be heard when the trial continues. Their testimonies will be given before noon on the first day.

Expert witness testimonies should then be heard on the afternoon of the first day. Closing arguments will be heard the next day and possibly the decision as well.

The hearings would be extended only for the purpose of handing down the decision. According to the indictment, the defendant assaulted three people with a knife near the tram stop, causing them injuries which required hospitalization, and one of them later died in hospital.

Strict security for the hearings

The hearings started under strict security measures with a slight delay after 9 AM with a significant media presence. The courtroom was not full, with roughly 30 of the 70 seats occupied.

Prosecutor Petr Bejšovec read out the indictment. “At approximately 19:40 in Brno on the asphalt walkway connecting the municipal mass transit stop called Přístaviště with Přístavní Street, the defendant used a knife to attack the three young men with whom he was having an altercation and caused them injuries,” Bejšovec said.

According to the prosecution, the defendant caused fatal injuries to one of the men and non-fatal injuries to the other two. The indictment says the defendant intervened against a group of people who were behaving inappropriately on the tram and that the altercations happened after they all exited the tram.

PHOTO GALLERY (PHOTO: Petr Banda)

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The foreign national was initially taken into custody but is currently released on his own recognizance. In July the Municipal Court in Brno decided to release him, but the prosecutor objected to that decision.

The Regional Court upheld the first-instance decision to release the defendant in August. The June incident in Brno boosted anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some Romani people.

Disinformation on social media alleging that other Romani people had also been assaulted by Ukrainians was refuted by police, but sparked even more emotions. Many Romani figures condemned the anti-Ukrainian assemblies held by some Romani people, warned against applying collective guilt to all Ukrainians and called for people to maintain their equilibrium and to verify any reports before sharing them online.

A new set of crisis communication guidelines was published by the Czech Government on how to calm tensions and unrest in municipal departments and municipalities. The instructions for how to inform the public about such incidents were created by an expert group on de-escalating and preventing prejudice-motivated violence, which was created in the summer in response to some Romani people convening anti-Ukrainian actions.