Roma minority attacked with Molotov cocktails

Krosnica; photo - wikicommons

The incident occurred at about 10 pm on Friday night, when two flaming bottles of petrol landed on property belonging to members of the Roma community.

One bottle fell onto grass and the flames quickly petered out. The second landed on the roof of a house, and the inhabitants swiftly extinguished the flames.

No one was injured in the assault.

Police believe that the crime was carried out by someone driving through the village.

Roma inhabitants of Krosnica told the Gazeta Krakowska daily that they are regularly intimidated by drivers, whether it be with empty cans or stones.

However, this is the first time that a home-made bomb has been used.

“Up until now its just been stones and insults that have been thrown at us,” said one resident.

“But now, if someone wants to go as far as to set us alight, we've reason to fear for our lives.”

The resident underlined that the Roma community did not suspect other inhabitants of the village.

“They're good people, we manage to get along with them,” they said.

In January this year Roma from the western city of Poznan complained that they were being banned from bars and clubs simply because they were members of the Roma community. Prosecutors opened an investigation after local authorities and the Interior Ministry became involved to solve what Roma said was a case of “blatant racism”. (nh/pg)