Czech trial resumes today and tomorrow in the case of the stabbing death of a Romani man at the Brno Reservoir last June
In Brno, Czech Republic, the Regional Court will continue the trial today and tomorrow of the stabbing death of a Romani man at the Brno Reservoir last year, with the possibility that a verdict could be handed down tomorrow. Roman Rohozin, originally from Ukraine, is on trial for murder.
Rohozin denies culpability and claims he acted in self-defense. The man who was killed was Romani, and the case led to tensions between some Romani people and some Ukrainians last June.
The accused also injured two other people during the incident. The foreign national, who is 37 years old, faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted.
Eyewitness questioning is planned for this morning, testimony the prosecutor considers crucial, as it should introduce a disinterested perspective as to what transpired. The defendant and the two surviving injured parties describe the incident from last June very differently.
Testimony this afternoon is expected from expert witnesses in the fields of forensics and psychiatry. The trial is scheduled to end tomorrow, and presiding Judge Dita Řepková has announced that concluding arguments could also be heard at that time, as well as a decision in the matter.
If a verdict is not handed down tomorrow, the court would continue the trial for that purpose alone. The trial opened in mid-December 2023 and heard testimony from Rohozin and the two surviving people who were injured during the altercation.
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The defendant stated in that first hearing that he had acted in self-defense. According to him, a group of three people assaulted him after he disembarked from the tram he had been taking to the reservoir to watch a fireworks show.
Rohozin alleged that the three had been making noise on the tram and he had asked them to stop. He said he drew his knife to defend himself and didn’t even know he had actually harmed anybody with it.
According to the surviving injured parties, the defendant started shouting at them and making threats, which is why they assaulted and punched him after disembarking from the tram. It is not, however, apparent how exactly everything transpired after they all got off of the tram.
According to the indictment, the defendant assaulted and injured three people near the tram stop who all ended up in the hospital. One later died there.
The man who was killed was a young member of the Romani community. Soon after his death and the media reporting that the perpetrator was from Ukraine, hate speech against Ukrainians began spreading among part of the Romani community, and unrest was also sparked in Brno by the 10 June 2023 incident.
