Racists in Czech capital assault non-white family, call the father "Cikán", give the Nazi salute, try to take their baby
A racist attack on a family with an infant in a pram took place in the late night hours of 13 December and early morning hours of 14 December on a bus in Prague heading from the I. P. Pavlova station to the Háje station, when two men aged 46 and 47 are said to have spotted the dark-skinned family with an infant in a pram. The assailants are said to have shouted racist slogans at the family, to have raised their right arms in the Nazi salute, to have made threats and to have even attempted to harm the baby.
A press release by the Prague Municipal Police on the incident says that “At 12:30 AM, shouting and the sound of huge blows coming from the Brechtova bus stop drew the attention of a beat patrol monitoring the final metro stop, Háje. Two men exited a bus with their right arms extended shouting ‘Sieg Heil’, a typical Nazi greeting.”
“The bus driver said the men had got on just before midnight at I. P. Pavlova and rode the bus to the final stop,” the police press release relates. “During the journey they concentrated on a family, a man and woman of swarthy complexion with a baby in a pram.”
“The men verbally insulted the baby’s parents and attempted to remove the child from the pram,” states the press release. “When the father opposed that, both men threatened him with physical harm.”
“At the same time the men were repeatedly giving the Nazi salute,” the police press release describes the incident. According to reporting by news server Romea.cz, the assailants insulted the father in racist terms, shouting at him: “Cikán, do you want a punch in the face?”
According to the bus driver, the men exited at the final stop and continued on their way with their right arms raised, shouting “Sieg Heil”. At least five eyewitnesses followed the entire incident on the bus and confirmed the attackers’ racist behavior.
When confronted by the beat patrol, the two men spontaneously admitted to having given the Nazi salute and attempted to do so in front of the patrol as well. The police who were monitoring the nearby Háje metro stop arrested the assailants and took them to the station on suspicion of having committed a crime.
Before doing so, police asked the suspects to take a breath test for alchohol. One refused the test while the other registered a breath alcohol level of 1.7.
The family whom they terrorized is being offered free legal aid by the In IUSTITIA organization. Anybody who has become the victim of such an assault anywhere in the Czech Republic can call the free phone number 800 922 922 for assistance.
