Police probe racism in unit

Police President Petr Lessy has launched an investigation into the commanders of the self-proclaimed "Delta squad" first responders unit in Brno, amid allegations that far-right members of the group targeted minority groups with violence.

The unit drew national headlines after the January 2009 death of Hoang Son Lam, a drug suspect, in an incident Lessy labeled "a big blotch on the good reputation of the police" in a recent Czech Television interview while explaining the need to investigate.

A resulting trial in that case led to a 10-year conviction for ringleader Josef Srnský, while two colleagues are awaiting a verdict after having appealed three-year prison sentences. While the six-member unit was disbanded after the 2009 incident, two of them are now working at Zlín Regional Police headquarters under the same leadership, and investigators seek to identify whether a larger culture of violence and racism was promoted by commanders.

"We are investigating the circumstances in the case to verify whether the managers complied with their responsibility to function as a controlling mechanism," said Police Presidium spokeswoman Petra Kopecká, adding that special attention is being paid to the two officers now working in Zlín.

Jaroslav Vaněk, deputy director of Zlín Regional Police and the commander of the former Brno unit, has defended their practices.

Numerous incidents and reports point to excessive use of violence by the Brno unit, in particular with cases involving minorities. However, the results of an 18-month internal inspection of the group did not draw any direct connections with far-right ideology.

South Moravian Police Chief Tomáš Kužel, who took the post in January 2010, said the statute of limitations on many of the incidents has expired. Bedřich Koutný, the former South Moravian police chief now serving as chief in Zlín, denies that the Delta squad failed to fulfill its duties.

"If the Delta squad members were to commit any illegal acts mentioned in the Czech TV reportage, they committed it on groups that were not expected to complain," he said. "Therefore, their activities could have been kept secret to their superiors.

"Most men who voluntarily join armed forces, be it the police or army, tend far more than the rest of the population to hold the values of order, organization and coherence, which can be used by an extremist group for infiltration into their ranks,"  Koutný continued. "But a democratic state must make every possible effort to ensure that such penetration is prevented. However, no controlling mechanism is perfect."

The results of the Police Presidium investigation into the past leadership of the Brno police is due in the next few of weeks and could result in further criminal charges.

Hoang Son Lam's family is seeking some 200 million Kč in damages for his death. 

Klára Jiřičná can be reached at
kjiricna@praguepost.com