The Slovak media are reporting that allegedly as many as 20 skinhead attackers brutally beat up a Romani man from the Czech Republic at a party in the Central Slovakian town of Banská Štiavnica. The man lost consciousness as a result of the brawl. Two Georgians and the man’s girlfriend, who is a local resident, were also targeted for attack. It is not yet clear whether the conflict was racially motivated.

The incident occurred on the evening of Saturday 6 April at a local discotheque. There was some discord between two girls and shortly thereafter the brawl was unleashed. The Georgians and the Romani man were working in the town, the Georgians as part of an EU-sponsored volunteer program. The assailants beat Romani victim Pavel H. to such a degree that he lost consciousness twice. They also broke his girlfriend’s nose. The injured girl is filing criminal charges and the Georgians are considering informing their embassy of the incident. Witnesses claim the attackers pushed their victims to the ground and kicked them wildly. None of the discotheque’s other customers or its staff came to the aid of the victims. Discotheque owner Zuzana Kaníková insists her security personnel did what they could, but believes they had no “powers” to intervene against the attackers out on the street.

The Georgian volunteers are not able to say with 100 % certainty whether the assault was racially motivated, but they do have the feeling that the brutality of the attack was caused by the fact that they are foreigners. Both of the Georgians are dark-skinned and spoke English at the start of the incident. „My friend from Georgia got punched inside and his colleague came to his defense. Then everything went down very fast. The conflict moved into the vestibule, then the bouncers sent us outside and the assailants went out after us. I was struck from behind and that’s the last thing I remember. Maybe the fact that I was unconscious is what spared me,” Pavel H. told news server Sme.sk. “The most I can tell you is that we really are not able to confirm that this was racially motivated. However, the fact that it was 30 against three is completely unacceptable,” victim Pavel H. told Czech Radio. Pavel H. had previously worked in Banská Štiavnica as a volunteer before being hired there as an auto mechanic. “I have never had this big of a problem anywhere before. I am planning to keep on living here and I’m a bit afraid for my safety now,” he admitted.

Source: Romea.cz
Date: 11.04.2013