Slovakia: Roma allege police targeted them with rubber bullets, surround police station with dogs, police fire warning shots to disperse them

Slovak National Council MP Peter Pollák, Jr. said he was heading to the scene of the incident and is demanding an investigation into the intervention and its proportionality. Shortly after 13:00 CET on Sunday, Slovak Police issued the statement that the use of force was proportional to the situation.

According to the Aktuality.sk news server, a mass disturbance of public order occurred in front of the local police department building in Veľká Ida at around 20:30 CET on Saturday, 28 June. The news server reports that a crowd of approximately 200 people threw stones at the building, at police officers, and at police vehicles; officers fired several warning shots at their assailants and also intervened against dogs who were attacking them too.

An emergency motorized unit from Košice was called to the scene. The media and the police did not initially reveal what preceded the incident or why the Roma gathered in front of the police station.

Pollák Jr. stated that according to local Roma, an intervention by police in the Romani settlement had transpired involving police firing rubber bullets. “According to local Roma, rubber bullets were fired and women were allegedly running into the forest with their children to escape the police brutality,” he said.

The lawmaker said he plans to visit the scene of the incident in person. He will ask the Inspectorate of the Interior Ministry of the Slovak Republic to take action on its own initiative, and he also wants to contact the Public Defender of Rights to oversee the case.

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“It’s probably a similar scenario to what happened in Moldava nad Bodvou during Fico’s previous government,” Pollák, Jr. added. In 2013, police raided the Romani settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou, injuring dozens of people.

Critics said that crackdown was extremely brutal, involving pressure on the victims during interrogations. The European Court of Human Rights later ruled that the Slovak authorities had failed to adequately investigate the police assault and crackdown on the Romani victims, who were entitled to compensation.

Videos of the police intervention are also starting to appear on social media. In more than one of them, a police officer can be seen brutally punching a handcuffed Romani man several times.

Police defend their procedure, describe intervention

Shortly after 13:00 CET on Sunday, Slovak Police issued a detailed statement on the situation. They were responding to a video that had been posted on social media by MP Pollák, Jr. questioning the actions of the police officers.

“The police have been taking intensive action in the matter since they were called to the scene,” the Slovak Police said. They added that criminal prosecution [of local Roma] for disorderly conduct had already been initiated, but went on to say that “it has not yet been ruled out that further investigations will lead to the establishment of the facts of other crimes.”

The statement then described in detail what happened in Veľká Ida from the perspective of police. According to them, shortly before 20:00 CET they received a report on the emergency line about a physical incident between several hundred people in front of a local business in Veľká Ida.

“Upon arrival at the scene, officers observed individuals who were clearly under the influence of alcohol, acting vulgarly and loudly,” police said. According to the statement, one of the individuals present “ran towards officers in an aggressive manner with his hands raised, which raised reasonable concerns of a physical attack.”

The police pacified the man with force and escorted him to the police station on suspicion of a public order offence. The group of Roma then grew larger and moved to the front of the police station building.

“They damaged police station property and police vehicles passing by the local settlement, they were noisy, and they made derogatory gestures,” the statement said. Additional patrols were immediately sent to the scene to restore order.

However, according to police, the crowd’s aggressiveness continued to escalate. “They threw stones, bottles and other objects at the intervening patrols which struck an officer,” the police said.

“Warning shots were fired into the air against the crowd in accordance with the law,” police said in the statement, adding that they had to use non-lethal weapons against the attacking dogs. “As a crowd of hundreds of aggressively behaving people was approaching the police and did not respond to their calls, warning shots were fired. No one was injured,” the police said.

After the situation calmed down, the police then took what they called preventive measures. “Officers closed the access road to the village for a certain period of time and continued to monitor the situation until the morning hours to prevent further incidents or disruption of public order,” said the statement.

Daško: Police must explain their procedure, Inspectorate is already handling the case

Shortly before 16:30 CET on Sunday, Alexander Daško, the Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Romani Communities, issued his own statement on the situation in Veľká Ida. He called for the police actions to be thoroughly investigated.

“Despite the police’s description of the situation, I have requested that all of their procedures be reviewed based on camera footage,” Daško said on social media. According to current information, the police Inspectorate is already investigating the case.

At the same time, Daško strongly condemned any aggressive behavior or violence on either side. “Any violence and aggression from any side does not contribute to peaceful coexistence and mutual respect,” he said.

Daško added that the office will be “intensively interested in the case until it is closed.” News server Romea.cz will continue to monitor the situation.