"Fortunately no Roma were living there, just gadje [non-Roma]," 16-year-old Baška Siváková posted to a Facebook group called "Modlitební skupina" ("Prayer Group"), adding the emoji of a heart. Slovak police specialists on extremism and hate speech have already begun reviewing the racist statement.
Siváková was referring to the prefabricated apartment building in Prešov, Slovakia where eight people perished after a gas explosion (rescue workers have not yet found the body of one of those presumed dead). Many people are condemning her online, including other Roma, but non-Roma are also reacting to the post with racism.
Hateful commentaries like these have also been investigated by the Czech Police. The case of the class photo of first-graders at a primary school in Teplice is one of the better-known examples.
After the photo of the children, who were of Arab, Romani and Vietnamese origin, appeared on social media, some social media users began to call them !suicide assassins. Others proposed gassing them, inspired by the fact that the school is on "Gasworks Street" (Plynárenská ulice).
