Nov 22, 2007, 16:53 GMT
Prague - Three right-wing extremists beat up a 16-year-old dark-skinned girl of Slovak and Cuban origin on Wednesday night in eastern Slovak city of Kosice, CTK news agency reported Thursday citing the police.
The attackers knocked the girl down, punched her and kicked her, while yelling Nazi salutes.
'They accompanied their actions with cries: 'Sieg Heil' and 'Get out of Slovakia',' CTK cited police spokeswoman Jana Demjanovicova as saying.
The trio fled the scene when passers-by intervened. The young woman sustained injuries to her head, right arm and back, and will be treated for approximately 10 days, the report said.
The police have so far detained one suspect, a 19-year-old Kosice resident. If convicted, the attackers face up to 12 year in prison.
Racist attacks, mostly against the Roma and foreign students, are not unusual in Slovakia.
The police registered 188 racially-motivated crimes, including violent attacks, in 2006, an increase from 121 such cases in 2005. Activists add that not all victims report attacks.
Your Talkback on this Story