Machines demolished a house in the Ostrava settlement of Bedřiška, its supporters protested

Ostrava - Machines demolished a house this morning in the former miners' colony Bedřiška in Ostrava, which the city district had designated for demolition. The police secured the property beforehand, as opponents of the demolition had been staying on its roof in recent days. At that moment, they were not there. Supporters of the Bedřiška settlement protested against the demolition at a municipal council meeting before noon and in the afternoon in the square. Aside from a verbal exchange of opinions, everything took place without incidents.

The city hall of the Ostrava district of Mariánské Hory and Hulváky ordered the demolition because it does not want to take care of the houses in the settlement due to their condition. According to them, they are beyond their lifespan and the costs of repairs are high. The district wants to gradually evict the tenants and leave the area as a strategic land reserve. They are offering people alternative accommodation. Residents, on the other hand, claim that the Finnish houses are not in such bad condition. Both the city and the district have repeatedly been accused of insufficient communication with the community.

The demolition of the last structure in the current wave started around 06:30 and was completed approximately three hours later. "About 15 rental houses remain in Bedřiška, where people live and will continue to live for several more years," stated the mayor of the Mariánské Hory and Hulváky district, Patrik Hujdus (Mayors for Ostrava). The demolished structure is part of a duplex. The mayor mentioned that during the demolition, the city hall offered accommodation in a hotel to the family living in the other, non-demolished half. According to Hujdus, the residents refused this offer, which is still valid. He stated that the demolished part had been unoccupied for more than two years.

According to Ilona Rozehnalová from the Ostrava association Fiducia, however, the residents learned of the demolition only shortly before it took place. She is unhappy that the city district does not want to send its representative to the planned planning workshop for further alternative proposals for preserving the community in Bedřiška, which is to take place in February. She believes the district should participate in meetings with experts and discuss.

Hujdus said that it is not within the district's capabilities to attend every roundtable, but they do not avoid communication. At the same time, he rejected claims that the district damages the city's reputation or behaves in a racist manner, as activists allege, according to the mayor.

Spokesperson for the residents of Bedřiška, Eva Lehotská, labeled today's demolition as a victory of the arrogance of power, but she stated that the fight for human and civil rights will continue in Bedřiška. She mentioned that the residents took legal action last week because they believe that the building law was violated during the demolition. They approached the department of building regulations, transport, and environmental protection at the city district office in Vítkovice. They requested an immediate ban on the continuation of the demolition and the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings due to illegal actions during the demolition. According to Lehotská, complaints were also directed to the Ostrava city council and the ombudsman.

Supporters of the Bedřiška settlement protested today against the demolitions at the meeting of the Mariánské Hory and Hulváky district council. They unfurled banners stating among other things Houses for People, Arrogance of Power, or Bedřiška Holds the Community, Not Capital. The district council session ended after 14:00, and aside from a verbal exchange of opinions, everything took place without incidents. The supporters of Bedřiška repeated their objections to the demolitions at the afternoon demonstration in Ostrava at Mariánské náměstí, where about two dozen of them gathered with banners. They indicated that they want to continue protesting.

Among the participants in the protests was Jiřina Štanglerová, who has lived in the settlement with her husband and two children for 27 years. She has an open-ended contract; however, she is afraid for the future. According to her, the district does not communicate sufficiently; people would welcome, for instance, flyers with information about the demolitions. She no longer sees a path to agreement. She does not want to leave Bedřiška; according to her, the area has transformed from a ghetto into a "paradise on earth."

According to opponents of the demolition, the colony is an example of unique community work, where a socially disadvantaged area was successfully transformed into a functioning neighborhood and is a model of harmonious coexistence between the Roma community and the majority society. However, this was not always the case. The settlement faced crime, and in 2010, the police had to deal with an arson attack on one of the houses occupied by a Roma family. A bottle flew into a children's room where a fourteen-year-old girl was sleeping. The noise woke her up, and she quickly managed to extinguish the bottle. People living in the settlement feared for their safety after the attack. Later, it turned out that other residents of the colony threw the incendiary bottle into the property, motivated by neighborhood disputes.

Residents of the settlement are now seeking help from President Petr Pavel and the Commissioner for Human Rights Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková. Both have supported their efforts to save the settlement.