LIVE BROADCAST TOMORROW 10 AM: Press conference on the case of the death of Stanislav Tomáš in the Czech Republic
On Wednesday 28 July 2021 at 10 AM a press conference will be held about the case of Stanislav Tomáš, who died on 19 June in police custody; the organizers say many unanswered questions remain regarding the case, above all as to whether an independent, transparent investigation of the intervention against Mr Tomáš by police will ever happen. ROMEA TV will broadcast the press conference live online.
“We would like to present, from information sources that are publicly accessible, some findings about cases during which people have died in police custody and the investigations that should have followed. We would also like to inform the public of how the Ústecký Regional Police Directorate is failing to communicate and is neglecting its obligation to respond to freedom of information requests about the death of Stanislav Tomáš,” organizer Edita Stejskalová said in an invitation sent to news server Romea.cz.
“We will also discuss the publicly available information and opinions of the evidence used by police to assess the Tomáš case,” Stejskalová said. Police training will also be a subject of the press conference.
“In a country that respects human rights it should be normal that, after an intervention involving a death, an investigation of the intervention should be performed so the police can learn from any mistakes and improve their methods,” Stejskalová said in the invitation to the event. Organizers warn that many questions remain unanswered about the case.
“Why has the regional prosecutor in Ústí nad Labem been investigating the deceased, Mr Tomáš, from the very beginning? Why is the regional prosecutor using public money to undertake what appears to be an unnecessary investigation?” the invitation to the event asks.
“Why hasn’t the regional prosecutor been investigating this case as one of suspicion of the crime of abuse of the power of a public official? Why has this case not been investigated as one of police brutality?” the organizers ask.
The press conference will feature presentations by Edita Stejskalová, a political scientist who has long been involved in assisting victims of ethnic discrimination with defending themselves through the law. In 2019 she was awarded the Fórum 50 % award for “Promising Female Politician”.
The press conference will also feature the human rights activist and team member of news server Romea.cz, Gwendolyn Albert, who has worked on issues such as the dignified remembrance of WWII-era concentration camps for Romani people, guaranteeing access by Romani children to mainstream primary education, and compensation for women who have been forcibly sterilized. Jaroslav Miko, a truck driver who established the Czechs Are Helping Initiative (Iniciativa Češi pomáhají), which aims to awaken interest among the public in aiding people fleeing war, will also participate in the press conference.
