Detectives in Vysočina region are investigating a violent attack on a Romani family that may have been racially motivated. Petr Šváb of the Jihlava Police made the announcement earlier this week at a conference on extremism organized by the Vysočina Regional Authority. The incident occurred last year. The regional edition of Deník is reporting that Šváb did not want to reveal more details.
„I don’t want to talk about it yet, because it is a complicated case and we have not managed to prove racial motivation for the time being,“ Šváb told the Jihlava edition of Deník. He mentioned the case during a discussion with conference attendees who wanted to know whether extremists have been committing violence in the region.
The aim of the conference, which was supported by the Czech Education Ministry and the European Union, was to draw attention to extremism, which could become increasingly important given the current social situation in the region. Organizers also wanted to present the issue comprehensively with respect to the theoretical side and to familiarize participants with current trends and developments in extremism in the Czech Republic.
A total of 11 lectures were delivered by police officers, college teachers, and representatives of two nonprofit organizations. The conference was held at the Vysočina Regional Authority headquarters in Jihlava on 5 and 6 March.
The experts pointed out that police interventions against neo-Nazi assemblies are costing the taxpayers a great deal. Petr Minář of the South Moravian Region said millions of crowns were being spent on them annually. The cost of managing demonstrations by radicals at last year’s 1 May demonstration in Brno was roughly CZK 8 million.
Klára Kalibová of the In IUSTITIA association presented the organization’s „Aid to hate violence victims“ project. She emphasized that cooperation between the security forces and the NGO sector is key to assisting victims. In her view, NGOs can make the criminal justice system more accessible to victims. She reminded her audience that in the Czech Republic, 90 % of hate crimes go undetected and said it was primarily up to police to open their doors to the victims. She drew attention to examples of good practice abroad, such as the approach taken by police towards hate violence victims in Great Britain.
Štěpán Výborný of Masaryk Universtiy in Brno drew attention to the legal aspects of prosecuting extremism. He discussed the concept of a „militant“ democracy that defends itself, i.e., the fact that in a democratic order where the rule of law prevails, extremism must be fought using legal instruments. He also reminded the audience of some essential recent court verdicts.
Officers from the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu – ÚOOZ) also gave a presentation. Ivana Knolová introduced a new crime prevention program that also targets extremism, „Police for Everyone“, which will be launched at the end of October. The project consists of officers training teachers in the schools, who will then train their pupils.
Quelle: romea.cz
Stand: 08.03.2012