“Roma lives matter!”, “Justice for Stanislav.”, “Equality for Roma!”, “Free Europe, Free Roma!”
These were the calls heard on Monday at the entrance of “Rruga e Ambasadave” in Tirana, a stretch of street that hosts a number of major embassies in the capital. The calls came from representatives of several Roma rights organizations in Albania and they were addressed to the Czech Ambassador to Albania, Mr. Jaroslav Ludva.
The Center for the Rights of Roma Women and Roma Veritas Albania, both organizations that center Roma rights in Albania, protested police brutality and the death of Stanislav Tomas, a Roma citizen, at the hands of the Czech police in the city of Teplice, in the northern Czech Republic.
On June 21, 2021, a video was circulated on media. The filmed footage recorded the Czech police’s intervention against Tomas, making it clear that the police used unnecessary violence: a policeman put his knee on Stanislav Tomas’s neck for more than five minutes, resulting in his death.
Through this protest, these organizations have expressed serious concern about the video, which shows the police brutality that led to the death of Stanislav Thomas.
“We believe that the absence of any sanctions on the police officers that caused the death of a citizen, in this case, a member of the Roma minority, will legitimize the social and institutional racism that the Roma community experiences in the Czech Republic and beyond.”
This statement is included in the official request signed by these civil society organizations and addressed to the Czech Ambassador to Albania.
“We call on the Minister of Interior Mr. Jan Hamacek, the Prime Minister Mr. Andrej Bahis and the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. Milos Zeman, to address and sanction this act of police brutality, not only as an isolated crime but also to make clear that the Czech Republic stands against discrimination against Roma or any kind of ethnic minority that enjoys equal rights before the Czech Constitution,” said Emiliano Aliu, director of the organization “Roma Veritas Albania,” during in his speech at the Monday protest.
In their request to the Czech Ambassador Mr. Jaroslav Ludva, among other things, Roma rights organizations in Albania demand that an independent and complete investigation be conducted into the circumstances of the death of Stanislav Tomas.
They also request that the investigation ensure the protection of the privacy and security of all eyewitnesses. Furthermore, they want the Czech government to ensure that the responsible officials and institutions of the Czech Republic are held accountable for their actions and that appropriate sanctions are imposed for the violations committed.
Roma activists in Albania also demands that this event be reported objectively by media and that cases of biased coverage, as well as contemptuous, provocative, and racist public statements on behalf of state officials in the Czech Republic, be condemned, including comments made by the Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic in connection with this case.
Finally, through their list of demands, Roma organizations in Albania are also calling for strong action against police brutality and ethnic profiling by EU police forces and pre-accession countries, so as to ensure that the appropriate and nondiscriminatory methods are implemented by the police during their intervention and no other citizen loses their life at the hands of the police.
