Tomáš Ščuka on the controversial acquittal of the defendant in the case of the death of a young Romani man in Brno: This verdict sends a dangerous message to Czech society
Responding to the controversial court decision in the case of the death of a young Romani man in Brno last year, Tomáš Ščuka, a member of the Czech Government Council on Roma Minority Affairs, said he perceives the acquittal as sending a dangerous message to society. "If an assault transpires on a tram, in public, use the knife or the weapon you have on you and we'll play at it being necessary self-defense," he told ROMEA TV.
“It’s awfully difficult to comment on this,” Ščuka said, “because this was not an ordinary incident, but the loss of a human life.” In his view, the verdict sends society the message that the use of a knife could be perceived as absolutely commonplace and the courts will decide that such instances are necessary self-defense, which he considers quite a dangerous trend.
“The testimonies of all those involved in this case diverged from each other. For example, independent witnesses said the physical assault that happened was not harsh, but that they were just shoving each other, so it’s a question to what degree it was necessary to use a knife for defense,” Ščuka told ROMEA TV, pointing out that the Romani community has some sociocultural specifics which, in his view, were not sufficiently taken into account during the trial.
Ščuka called for people to exercise their civil rights and to use legal avenues to draw attention to deficiencies in democracy and the lack of trust in the justice system that has appeared in the Romani community since the 1990s. “I believe we must learn how to take advantage of legal avenues, because this is not the first such case. This is not about disagreeing with the city, or with organizations, or with Ukrainians, but about a lack of trust in the justice system dating back to the 1990s, when low sentences were handed down in cases with Romani victims, which is wrong. We must do this, but quietly, it can’t be like it was last summer,” Ščuka explained.
“We have to express our views, we must take advantage of what the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms permits us, use our civil rights, assemble peacefully, draw attention to the deficits in democracy. That’s the way forward,” Ščuka told ROMEA TV.
