Firebomb attack on Romany family re-qualified as attempted murder

The police in Ostrava re-qualified on Thursday a recent firebomb attack on a local Romany family as attempted murder. The crime was originally investigated as a threat to public safety. The offenders will now face up to 15 years in prison. The police said the arson attack was re-qualified over suspicions it may have been racially motivated. The police have also set up a special unit to investigate the case, composed of specialists who worked on similar cases in the past.

The attack took place in Ostrava on Saturday when a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home a local Romany family. The bottle landed in the bedroom of a 14 year old girl who was able to extinguish the burning bottle before it caused further damage. In April of last year, a Romany family in the Moravian town of Vítkov was victim of a racially motivated arson attack, and another such incident took place in September in Mikulov, southern Moravia.