Police and media do not believe in nationality-motivated beating

The investigators in charge of the case of beating of Daniel Cz. state that the incident had no national background, but instead it was an act of hooliganism committed by unknown perpetrators. We were informed about this by the Head of the 2^nd Commissariat of the Police Headquarters in Vilnius, Arūnas Paulauskas.

—We cannot claim that the beating was nationality-motivated. According to early indications this was probably an act of hooliganism. The ultimate reasons behind the beating of Daniel Cz. will be known after finding of perpetrators of the beating and their interrogation – said Arūnas Paulauskas. He also added that there is only one victim of the incident that happened in the vicinity of the Vilnius Home of Polish Culture on 20^th January – Daniel Cz. His friends are eyewitnesses in the investigation. However, the chief of the 2^nd Commissariat does not forecast the outcome of the investigation.

— We have testimonies of the witnesses, according to which we have prepared memory portraits of possible perpetrators of the beating. At the moment we are looking for them. The data from the city security cameras of a nearby bank is also under investigation. We have also secured and we investigate the recording from a nearby cash machine – explains Paulauskas. As he notices, the difficulty is the fact that the police was not informed about the incident at the Home of Polish Culture immediately, but after two hours. The case was reported by the doctor, who was examining the victim.

— If the police was informed straight away after the incident, we would have more chances to stop the perpetrators directly after the beating – said Arūnas Paulauskas.

In the meantime, the case of the beating of the young Pole for the fact that he was speaking Polish with his friends has caused indignation among Polish politicians and organisations, as well as Polonia organisations. The investigation is also carefully observed by Polish media in Lithuania and in Poland.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian politicians and media consequently remain silent. They do not see this case as important. Since the incident in front of the Home of Polish Culture, Lithuanian media showed only one short agency information, in which the presenters were trying to downplay the issue, claiming that the police do not see the national background in the case of the beating of the Polish student of the Junior High School under the name of John Paul II.

According to our findings, the agency material has been posted only by one internet portal, in fact not the biggest one. Other media have consequently ignored the reports of Polish media about the beating of the young Pole and they even disregarded the agency information suggesting that the boy was beaten not as a result of his nationality.

— I have to admit that I had not known earlier about this case and that was the sole reason why we have not been writing about it, not that it was some kind of intention to overlook this case – says chief editor of one of the biggest Lithuanian portals, Liudas Dapkus. He also underlines that some cases, such as the issue of the beating of Daniel Cz. can simply drown in the stream of criminal acts, which overflow Lithuanian media every day.

http://kurierwilenski.lt/2012/01/31/policja-i-media-nie-wierza-w-pobicie-za-narodowosc/

Tłumaczenie Małgorzata Juchniewicz w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Małgorzata Juchniewicz within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.