Roma allege police brutality in eastern Slovak village

[Roma Virtual Network]

Roma allege police brutality in eastern Slovak village

BRUISED and wounded legs and backs were on full display for television cameras the day before Easter as a group of Roma from the eastern-Slovak village of Vrbnica complained of an inappropriate police raid.

The police intervention in the settlement near Michalovce allegedly left 15 people injured. The men claimed that the police brutally beat and kicked them.  The police deny the allegations and there is no video recording of the incident. 

Brutal attack, says mayor

The Vrbnica Mayor Jaroslav Tokár labelled the police raid “inappropriate and brutal”, the Korzár regional daily reported.

“Citizens who were working in the community services at that time were attacked as well,” Tokár told Korzár.

The Michalovce hospital confirmed that a group of 15 people was admitted in the hospital with light injuries that required outpatient treatment, Korzár reported.

The police raid in Vrbnica was part of a large police action which took place on the morning of April 3 and during which the police were looking for people who failed to show up to start their prison sentences. The police raided 46 locations and found seven people they were looking for, but none of them in Vrbnica, the public-service RTVS radio reported.

Read more on http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20056808/roma-allege-police-brutality-in-eastern-slovak-village.html