Roma demonstrate against assaults allegedly targeting them on Stodolní Street in Ostrava, Czech Republic, call for more police there
About 150 Romani people demonstrated on Stodolní Street in Ostrava, Czech Republic, against the violent assaults they allege have targeted them there. In response to more than one such incident in recent weeks there, Romani influencer David Mezei called the protest.
Police surveilled the demonstration. “Just in January, two such cases happened when security guards beat up young visitors for no reason other than that they were Romani. This cannot be allowed to continue. The police investigate, but nothing ever comes of it,” Mezei told the media outlets at the scene.
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“They started hitting us with their fists just on our mouths, stepping on our ribs, kicking us. They beat me while I was still on the ground, and then I came out of the club and they put me on the ground again and kicked me,” one of those attacked at the demonstration described to the media. “Then seven security guards came there and started fighting with us,” another added.
The Romani demonstrators began their march at the intersection of Nádražní and Stodolní Streets, stopped at one of the bars in question, then headed for the Masná Street police station. “Police should send more patrols to Stodolní Street and should ban minors from entering the bars. We do not want any more of these incidents,” Mezei challenged the officers in front of the station.
“God forbid something worse were to happen, that would provoke us and then something even worse would happen,” Mezei said. The Romani demonstrators chanted “We’ve had enough!”, “We want the law to apply to all!” and “This is our home!”
Several officers surveilled the demonstration but never had reason to intervene. According to Soňa Štětínská, spokesperson for the Moravian-Silesian Regional Police, the assembly had not been announced in advance, but police knew about it.
“A specific individual sent information about the demonstration to police officers. Given the predicted number of persons set to attend, a higher number of riot units was sent to the scene. We collaborated closely with Municipal Police from Ostrava. According to estimates there were roughly 150 people at the scene,” Štětínská told the news server Deník.cz.
The police spokesperson also rejected the allegation that police have not seen through the investigations of the assaults which prompted the demonstration. “The first incident happened in mid-January, when according to eyewitness testimonies, an 18-year-old man was attacked in a business on Stodolní Street. The incident was categorized as a misdemeanor against civil coexistence, but that legal categorization could change if more information comes to light,” Štětínská said.
The second case, according to police, involved assaults on two men, one born in 1999 and one in 2002. “Officers are investigating that matter as suspected disorderly conduct. Officers are continuing to take the steps necessary to a criminal proceeding in that case,” Štětínská said, adding that while police officers in both cases have completed the necessary tasks so far, some of the next steps also depend on the persons involved to cooperate.
David Mezei is one of several Romani influencers who broadcast live on social media expressing their opinions about current events, chiefly those impacting Romani people. Mezei first became more distinctly known to the Czech public when he became involved with the case of the Romani man Stanislav Tomáš, who died in police custody.
Both pro-Roma and Romani-run nonprofit organizations in four different countries distanced themselves from Mezei’s activities at that time. In 2021 he joined demonstrations against the Government’s measures to suppress the COVID-19 pandemic, appearing on a podium on the Letná Plain in Prague side by side with right-wing extremists.
