Double standard? Czech police officer gets suspended sentence for causing death of non-Romani man by kneeling on him, case of Romani man subjected to same tactic went unpunished, ECtHR reviewing it now

The case is noteworthy for its parallel with the death of the Romani man Stanislav Tomáš in Teplice in 2021, in which the Czech authorities rejected the idea that police were responsible. According to Miroslav Brož of the Konexe association, it is startling that authorities have approached each case differently when their circumstances were quite similar, and in his view the difference is, among other matters, the ethnicity of the victims.

Police intervened against the non-Romani youth on 12 May 2022 when he was on Nivnická Street in Uherský Brod. Their action was taken after the boy jumped off of a bridge into the river Olšava and then jumped onto a car while under the influence of LSD.

The most active officer brought the youth to the ground, handcuffed him, and then kneeled on him, during which the youth suffocated to death. Oprchal defended himself to the first-instance court by claiming that he had just held the youth in place with his knee after the intervention and had not applied pressure to him.

“I just have one message for my young colleagues, don’t respond to an intervention like that. Have a cigarette and wait around the corner somewhere,” Oprchal said after the verdict was pronounced.

The first-instance court decided the use of restraint was disproportionate. The appellate court softened the original punishment from three years in prison to two, suspended for five years, during which time Oprchal may not work for the armed forces.

According to the judge, while the case involved an unfortunate combination of circumstances, the officer violated regulations. The defense insisted the intervention had been unavoidable and that the young man had posed a threat, but the appellate court rejected the motions for his acquittal and the introduction of more evidence.

The case may still be reviewed by the Supreme Court. According to Brož, it has many similarities to the case of the late Mr. Tomáš.

“I see the main difference to be, first and foremost, that Stanislav Tomáš was a Romani man and the youth from Uherský Brod was not. However, it seems the authorities and investigating bodies involved have proceeded quite differently in each case – in the case of Stanislav Tomáš, the investigation concluded that nobody made any mistakes and that kneeling on him was absolutely in order, while in Uherský Brod they came to completely different conclusions and even convicted the officer who knelt on the victim,” Brož, who has long aided the family of the late Mr. Tomáš, told news server Romea.cz.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, France is reviewing the case of Mr. Tomáš. The Czech Government insists the intervention against him was proportionate, but legal representatives of the family warn that fatal errors were made: An ambulance was called to the scene too late, the officers failed to monitor the victim’s signs of life, and the investigation of the intervention was insufficient.

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Forum for Human Rights are supporting the family of Mr. Tomáš, who argue that police used disproportionate force and that the state failed to investigate the possible ethnic motivation of the intervention. In their opinion, the right to life and the prohibition on discrimination were violated.

Attorney Maroš Matiaško previously stressed that the case shows the failure of institutions meant to protect the rights of citizens. Brož expressed appreciation for the bravery of the sister of the deceased: “Instead of choosing silence, she decided to fight and seek justice.”

Brož believes the ECtHR hearing the case could lead to changes in police practices, primarily in the realm of training, the use of force, and the handling of people in agitated mental states. He also criticizes the failure of the police to turn on their body cameras, which could have provided crucial evidence.

The activist emphasizes that similar cases can show Romani people and other citizens how to seek international protection when domestic authorities fail them. He said the family of the late Mr. Tomáš perceives the ECtHR proceedings to be their last chance to achieve justice.

On 19 June 2021, Mr. Tomáš was arrested by police who knelt on his legs and his neck for several minutes. The bystander video footage of the incident quickly spread through social media, prompting protests by Romani people and their allies throughout Europe.

Police subsequently stated that the death of Mr. Tomáš had been caused by drug intoxication, not by their intervention. However, those conclusions have been doubted by independent experts and the family’s legal representatives.