Czech Republic: Two neo-Nazi arsonists request parole, Romani mother of burn victim disagrees
The Czech daily Právo reports that two of the four convicted arsonists who committed a racially-motivated attack with Molotov cocktails on the home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district) that almost cost the life of their two-year-old daughter Natálka have asked for parole.
Exceptional punishments for racially-motivated attempted murder
In the late night hours of 18 April and early morning hours of 19 April 2009, a small group of extreme-right sympathizers used Molotov cocktails to attack house number 58 in Vítkov (Opava district), which was inhabited by a Romani family. Three masked perpetrators threw one gas-filled bottle each through the ground-floor windows.
The arsonists then got into a car where an accomplice was waiting and disappeared from the scene. The powerful fire they started almost cost Natálka her life and injured her father and mother.
Natálka suffered burns over 80 % of her body. She was brought to hospital in critical condition and was not released until eight months later.
The trial began in May 2010 in Ostrava. Václav Cojocaru, Jaromír Lukeš, Ivo Müller and David Vaculík sat on the bench for defendants.
According to experts on extremism, all four young men were active neo-Nazis, which was proven by items found during house searches. Vaculík, moreover, came to court more than once wearing the Thor Steinar brand of clothing, a favorite among neo-Nazis.
The defendants argued that they never suspected the single-family home was inhabited. They claimed to have considered it a warehouse of stolen property.
