VIDEO Wave of indignation in Slovenia after the death of a man assaulted by a group of Roma. Two ministers resigned
Police in Slovenia. Photo credit: Luka Dakskobler / Zuma Press / Profimedia
The Slovenian Ministers of the Interior and Justice resigned on Sunday following the death of a man assaulted by a group of Roma, a case that caused strong indignation in Slovenia, HINA and AFP news agencies report, quoted by Agerpres.
“This should not have happened. The ministers in question have accepted their responsibilities and resigned,” Liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob announced in a press conference after an emergency meeting dedicated to the case.
Interior Minister Bostjan Poklukar and his Justice colleague Andreja Katic will remain in office until their successors are appointed, he added.
A 48-year-old man was attacked outside a bar in Novo Mesto in the southeast of the country on Saturday night and later died in hospital, according to the Slovenian news agency STA.
According to Slovenian media, the victim was beaten after arriving to pick up his son, who had been threatened by the group.
The police announced the arrest of a 21-year-old man with a criminal record.
Tensions with the local Roma community have intensified in Novo Mesto over the past year, amid an increase in petty crime and violence committed by this minority.
Hundreds of people gathered in Novo Mesto on Sunday morning to pay their respects to the victim, local media reported.
“Public institutions did not take measures”
“These violences prove that the Roma problem, about which we have been sounding the alarm for a long time, is getting worse and that public institutions have not taken measures despite the seriousness of the situation”, reacted the mayor of Novo Mesto, Gregor Macedoni, in a statement broadcast online.
The mayor called an emergency meeting of local authorities and called for a demonstration for Tuesday afternoon to demand action from the government to ensure security in the region, where, in a first phase, additional police units will be sent.
The Council of the Roma community in Slovenia estimates the number of Roma at 7,000-12,000 in this country of 2 million inhabitants.
