On 22 July 2024, a Slovak Civil Court delivered a landmark judgement. The case brought before the Court concerned police brutality against a Roma community in Vrbnica, in 2015. The Court ruled in favour of the Romani plaintiff’s, on all counts raised, finding the police guilty of discrimination on ethnic grounds. This is a first in Slovakian legal history. The Slovak Republic was ordered to pay 2,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages to each of the six Romani plaintiff’s. As well as ordered to issue a formal apology recognising the infringement of the plaintiff’s rights and expressing regret for the serious harm caused by the police raid.
The Vrbnica police operation was found to be discriminatory and recognised as harassment based on ethnic origin by the Court. The Romani residents testified they were subject to aggression, physical violence and racial verbal abuse by the police officers throughout the course of the raid. Witness statement stressed the centrality of ethnic discrimination within this police operation’s method and action. Official medical reports demonstrated injuries suffered by the plaintiff’s included extensive hematomas, bruises, contusions and lacerations. Crucially the Court recognised the Romani plaintiff’s dignity had been violated by police action in Vrbnica. This is a landmark judgement as it is the first time a Slovakian Civil Court recognises ethnic origin to be at the heart of an action of police brutality and discrimination. This judgement marks an important step forward for the protection of the Roma community on a national and European scale. In a 2016 Amnesty International Report, Slovak NGOs, reported the discrimination of Roma people in Slovakia remained widespread in all spheres including police investigation, education and workplace. This 2024 ruling signals a sharp objection to systematic discrimination and demonstrates strong commitment to upholding the rights of marginalised communities.
Within this case the European Roma Rights Centre (EERC) participated as a third party on behalf of the plaintiff’s. The EERC ‘is a Roma led international public interest law organisation working to combat anti Romani racism and human rights abuse’. Notably the ERRC uses strategic litigation, meaning it only takes cases designed to expose and ‘dismantle the discriminatory structures of antigypsyism in Europe’. The EERC had a determinative role in the unfolding and outcome of this case. As it helped set an important legal precedent in Slovakia. Michael Zalesak, EERC’s Slovak Legal Consultant, affirmed: ‘This is an important and historic victory not only for the plaintiffs but also for any Romani victim of police brutality.’