Four arrested in arson case

Police could make more arrests over an April petrol bomb attack on a Roma family that left a 2-year-old girl fighting for her life, said Markus Pape, the family's lawyer.

Four arrests have already been made in what police described as a breakthrough, but these were arrests of mere pawns who were carrying out orders from above, Pape said.

Three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house, where nine people lived, in Vítkov, north Moravia, on the night of April 19. Three people were injured in the attack.

Police detained 12 members (nine men and three women) of far-right groups from the north Moravia region Aug. 12. Four of the men aged about 25 were charged with racially motivated attempted murder.

With these arrests, police will now focus on the people who give orders, Pape said.

If found guilty, the accused could get 12 to 15 years in jail, or longer if they receive what in Czech law is called an exceptional sentence.

All four charged are members of the neo-Nazi movement. Police presented a number of neo-Nazi materials found at their homes, including a swastika flag and racist literature, at a news conference. One officer said the police operation had been the most successful intervention against far-right extremists ever carried out in the country.

The 2-year old girl, Natálka, who suffered burns to 80 percent of her body in the attack, is to undergo another five operations, doctors from the burn center at Ostrava Teaching Hospital said. According to the head of the department, Zdenka Crkvenjaš, the treatment may last several years, and potential life-threatening complications cannot be ruled out. Burn experts in Ostrava are using artificial skin grafts to treat the child's injuries.

Doctors recently took her out of an artificial coma, and her mother told reporters the child was now communicating with her hands and eyes. Nevertheless, Natálka is still in a very serious condition; she has undergone a series of skin transplants and will require medical treatment for the rest of her life. She may also be psychologically traumatized by the horrific burns she suffered, doctors said.

"I cannot speculate on whether more arrests will be made," said Kumar Vishwanathan, a community worker and head of Life Together, an NGO based in Ostrava.

"But I do feel this case signifies a change of attitude and will. The suffering of Natálka has made people and police focus on the far right in a way that has not happened before."

Tom Clifford can be reached at
tclifford@praguepost.com