Czech video goes viral of man telling girl to beat pillow with baseball bat and imagine it's a "Gypsy or a Muslim"
A video has gone viral on the Facebook social networking site that shows a man who is most probably the father of a young girl whom he is encouraging to bash a pillow with a baseball bat and imagine it is a “Gypsy or a Muslim”. The man is not seen in the video but his voice can be heard encouraging the child to use other vulgar terms such as “fuckers”.
The video was posted to the Facebook profile of a user under the nickame Olloph Samorost, who writes in the accompanying commentary that he knows where the video is from but is “considering what to do about it”. Many commentaries condemning the video were posted to his profile immediately afterward.
According to a user posting under the name of Honza Potměšil, the behavior of the man in the video is grounds for filing a motion with child welfare authorities, while others mention that it is necessary to contact police. The user who published the video told news server Romea.cz that he sent the original source of the video to people who demonstrated an interest in solving the problem and preparing a criminal report about it.
Below is a translated excerpt of some of the dialogue of the filmed interaction:
Man: “What are you going to do?”
Girl: “I’m going to beat the pillow.”
Man: “You’re going to beat the pillow? Will you imagine it’s a Gypsy or a Muslim?”
Girl: “Yeah!
Man: “Give it to him good!… Wait, just break a few bones, don’t kill him. … What are Gypsies?”
Girl: “They’re fuckers.”
Lawyer: The relevant authorities must respond
“The duty of parents is to care for a child’s emotional, intellectual and moral development. Inciting a child to hate people who live in the Czech Republic is a violation of that duty. The parents could be held criminally liable in addition to being held liable for violating their parental duty. Child welfare authorities protect children’s welfare generally, and they should involve themselves with this video, or rather, with the parents’ behavior,” Klára Kalibová of the In IUSTITIA organization, which aids the victims of hate violence, commented to Romea.cz.
“Another aspect is the broadcast or dissemination of the video through the Internet. If the video has been delivered to a bigger circle of people with the aim of inciting them to hatred, it is appropriate to assesss such behavior as falling under Section 356 of the Criminal Code. If the video has been intentionally sent to the online social media profiles of persons who are of the Muslim faith or are of Romani nationality with the aim of intimidating them, that can be considered a criminal act according to Section 352 paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code,” she said.
Criminal Acts Disturbing Cohabitation of People – Criminal Code of the Czech Republic
Section 352 Violence Against a Group of People and Individuals
(1) Whoever threatens a group of people with death, bodily harm or causing extensive damage, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to one year.
(2) Whoever uses violence against a group of people or against an individual or threatens them with death, bodily harm or causing extensive damage for their true or
presupposed race, belonging to an ethnic group, nationality, political or religious beliefs or because they are truly or supposedly without religion, shall be
sentenced to imprisonment for six months to three years.
(3) The same sentence as in Sub-section (2) shall be imposed to anyone who
a) conspires or assembles for the purpose of committing such an act, or
b) commits the act referred to in Sub-section (1) by press, film, radio, television, publically accessible computer network or in another similarly effective manner.
Section 355 Defamation of a Nation, Race, Ethnic or other Group of People
(1) Whoever publically defames
a) any nation, its language, any race of ethnic group, or
b) a group of people for their true or presupposed race, belonging to an ethnic group, nationality, political or religious beliefs or because they are truly or
supposedly without religion, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years
(2) An offender shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years, if he/she commits the act referred to in Sub-section (1)
a) with at least two persons, or
b) by press, film, radio, television, publically accessible computer network or in another similarly effective way.
Section 356 Instigation of Hatred towards a Group of People or of Suppression of their Rights and Freedoms
(1) Whoever publically instigates hatred towards any nation, race, ethnic group, religion, class or another group of people or instigates suppression of rights and
freedoms of their members, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years.
(2) The same sentence shall be imposed to anyone who conspires or assembles to commit the act referred to in Sub-section (1).
(3) An offender shall be sentenced to imprisonment for six months to three years, if he/she
a) commits the act referred to in Sub-section (1) by press, film, radio, television, publically accessible computer network or in another similarly effective way, or
b) actively participates in activities of a group, organisation or association that promotes discrimination, violence or race, ethnical, class, religious or other
hatred by such an act.
