ZLATE MORAVCE, January 13, (WEBNOVINY) – Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights and Minorities should discuss the New Year Eve’s incident in Zlate Moravce involving local Roma. Committee’s Chairwoman Anna Belousovova wants to discuss the issue at its next session. Belousovova met the alleged victim, representatives of the town and of the police this Friday. She would also like to invite Police President Jaroslav Spisiak to inform the committee on the investigation. “We’ve also agreed that representatives of the municipality would attend as well,” informed Belousovova.
The victim she met suffered extensive injuries and does not remember most of the incident as his head should have been hit strongly and then someone dragged him away. “There are several versions and we’ll demand the case to be objectively investigated so that the truth comes out. If it was a racist attack of the Roma, may it be assessed as such,” said Belousovova. She was surprised that only few of the attack’s victims were ready to testify and that only two of them have filed charges. She says that it’s an indication that the victims fear. “Maybe even those policemen, who might have not acted adequately, already fear being accused of racism had they treated the Roma as they should have,” she added.
Since the beginning of 2012, relations between the Roma community in Zlate Moravce and rest of the population are tense after a fight resulting into seven people treated in the hospital which took place on New Year’s Eve. Both police and Inspection of the Interior Ministry now investigate the incident. Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic visited the town in order to get first hand information on the fight. Extreme nationalist organization Slovenska Pospolitost plans a protest rally there this Saturday.
“No extremism or such rallies bring anything to anyone. In contrary, it might fuel even more tensions in the society although there is already enough of them,” says Belousovova. According to her the only solution is law being valid equally for everyone. Together with representatives of the town she reached the conclusion that problems with the Roma are a time bomb which is about to explode in Slovakia. It’s not only an issue of eastern Slovakia any more, but it’s “slowly, yet definitely, approaching Bratislava.” She mentioned recent frictions in Malacky and Plavecky Stvrtok as an example.
SITA