Czech Republic

Czech Republic's "Romani elite" are under pressure

Brno/Trimice, 17.1.2015 3:04, (ROMEA) In addition to the charges of producing and distributing illegal drugs recently filed against a local Romani councilor in Trmice, Marcel Cichý, there is another, less dramatic and less visible problem affecting the country's Romani elite. The matter is a serious one nonetheless: One of the few media outlets focusing on Romani people, the magazine Romano hangos, is in a deep crisis and its original editors are in a state of conflict with one another.  full story

Czech Police investigate brawl between gaming room bouncers and Romani customers in Ostrava

Ostrava, 16.1.2015 19:47, (ROMEA) A large group of Romani customers attacked security guards on Wednesday at a gaming room in Ostrava-Bělský Les. The scuffle between the bodyguards and the customers happened
after members of the security team removed two Romani customers from the premises.  full story

Czech Republic: Local party believes Romani member is innocent of drug charges

Trmice, 15.1.2015 17:30, (ROMEA) Detectives have charged Marcel Cichý, a primary school teacher and local councilor in Trmice elected for the "Together for Trmice" movement, with illegal distribution of drugs. News server Romea.cz publishes a statement on his arrest from the "Together for Trmice" movement in full translation here:  full story

European Commission not satisfied with Czech response to discrimination of Romani children

Brussels/Prague, 15.1.2015 16:57, (ROMEA) According to new information reported by Czech Television, the European Commission is not satisfied with the response of the Czech Government regarding the issue of the discrimination of Romani children in the schools. An official response to the Government will be sent by Brussels within the next few weeks.  full story

Czech anti-drug police arrest local Romani councilor

Ústí nad Labem, 15.1.2015 16:11, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that detectives have charged Marcel Cichý, a local councilor and teacher at a primary school in Trmice, with distributing drugs. Cichý and other Romani candidates in the "Together for Trmice" (Independent Choice) movement won election to the local council last October with 19.22 % of the vote, ending up in second place and taking three seats.  full story

Czech Government grants asylum to 15 families from Syria

Prague, 15.1.2015 0:21, (ROMEA) The Czech Government has agreed to grant asylum to refugees from Syria. Czech Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Bělobrádek (Christian Democrats - KDU-ČSL) announced the decision on Twitter on 14 January.  full story

Czech Republic: Local theater company stages German play about brutal neo-Nazi murder

Ústí nad Labem, 14.1.2015 22:54, (ROMEA) The Činoherák Ústí theater club is producing a play entitled "The Kick" by Andres Veiel and Gesine Schmidt, based on the true story of the brutal murder of a 16-year-old boy in the East German village of Potzlow. The ensemble will hold a preview performance at the Činoherní studio (Drama Studio) in the Střekov quarter on Friday.  full story

Commentary: Multiculturalism has succeeded and is our greatest chance for peaceful coexistence

Prague, 14.1.2015 20:33, (ROMEA) Multiculturalism has succeeded and continues to be our greatest chance for peaceful coexistence, not only in the Euro-Atlantic world, but for the whole planet. Never before has the civilized world, led by intellectual elites of all faiths, been so united in condemning radical Islamists.
 full story

Czech Republic enters next round of the fight over Romani children and special education

Prague, 14.1.2015 18:22, (ROMEA) The fact that too many children, particularly Romani ones, attend "special schools" in the Czech Republic is a problem that experts and politicians have been discussing here for 25 years. It is also being discussed abroad, because the Czech Republic has reaped criticism from the European Union for it as well.  full story

Czech Republic: Hundreds of illegally sterilized women will probably be compensated

Prague, 14.1.2015 17:09, (ROMEA) The victims of illegal sterilizations could be compensated as much as CZK 300 000 (EUR 10 000) in the coming years. Those who did not give their informed consent to such an operation prior to undergoing it would be eligible for compensation.  full story

Commentary: European demonstrations for unity give us hope, demagogues take it away

Paris/Prague, 13.1.2015 19:24, (ROMEA) On Sunday 11 January, millions demonstrated in Paris for social unity, with French citizens across all of society taking up a common cause. "We must not create amalgams," the French are saying.  full story

Czech-language Facebook page slanders Romani organizations as anti-Islam

Prague, 13.1.2015 17:12, (ROMEA) A recently-created Czech-language Facebook page has been created by anonymous administrators who are slandering Romani initiatives. The name of the page is "Roma against Islam" (Romové proti islámu).  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says President Zeman's remarks about ghettos too simplistic

Prague, 13.1.2015 16:08, (ROMEA) The first meeting of 2015 between Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier and the press was dominated by topics concerning Romani people and the relationship of the majority society towards them. The minister answered questions from news server Romea.cz, the RESPEKT weekly, the Deník franchise of daily papers and the Prima television station.  full story

Czech Republic: Girls invent story of assault by Roma, media must retract claims

Litvínov, 12.1.2015 17:50, (ROMEA) The infamous "journalist" Jan Vraný, who is behind the E-mostecko local online news server, has attempted to incite his readers against Romani people once more. However, he has only partially succeeded this time.  full story

Czech religious organizations call on public to resist radicalism

Prague, 10.1.2015 23:02, (ROMEA) The chair of the Czech Bishop's Conference, Dominik Duka, the chair of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, Daniel Fakfr, and the chair of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, Petr Papoušek, jointly called on the public today not to succumb to radicalism as a result of the anger they might feel over the Islamist terrorists in France. "It is still necessary to insist on the basic principles of an open society. We must primarily insist on freedom of speech, on human rights, and on mutual respect between cultures and religions, as well as on seeking the road of common coexistence," the religious leaders say in a statement made available to the Czech News Agency.  full story

Commentary: Czech anger and the Roma

Prague, 10.1.2015 21:34, (ROMEA) The most recent survey of Czech public opinion and trust in political institutions shows falling voter preferences for the ultra-right DSSS party, confirming the good feeling shared by many people, including this author, that our society is rebounding after hitting rock bottom. However, that is no reason to be rocked into complacency.  full story

Czech director of documentary about quintuplets: There is truth on both sides

Prague, 9.1.2015 22:19, (ROMEA) "I believe there is some truth on each side here and that this is just only about communication," said Alena Derzsiová, the director of a 13-part documentary series about the first year in the life of the Czech Republic's first-ever quintuplets, when asked about the dispute that has arisen between their patron, Klára Vítková-Rulíková, and the quintuplets' mother, Alexandra Kiňová. Speaking this morning on Czech Television's Studio 6 broadcast, Derzsiová said the recent interview given by Vítková-Rulíková to news server Onadnes.cz was unfortunate at the very least.  full story

Czech Republic: Roma respond to accusations of food waste

Czech Republic, 9.1.2015 20:49, (ROMEA) News server Romea.cz has reached out to our colleagues and readers for their response to the recent remarks made by Ms Klára Vítková-Rulíková regarding the wasting of food by the family of the quintuplets and indirectly by Romani families in general. We asked people how their families handle food, whether it is a habit not to eat leftovers, and what they think of this all.  full story

Czech Constitutional Court postpones repeat elections in Brno municipality

Brno, 9.1.2015 19:43, (ROMEA) On Thursday, 8 January, the Czech Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud- ÚS) halted preparations for a repeat of the local elections in the Brno-sever Municipal Department until it reaches a decision on complaints filed by the Municipal Department and Mayor Rostislav Hakl (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD). The Regional Court in Brno cancelled the results of last year's elections over vote-buying and Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec then announced new elections for 14 March.  full story

Czech Republic: Muslim representative touts conspiracy theories about the murders in Paris

Prague, 9.1.2015 18:07, (ROMEA) Mohammed Abbas, the director of the Muslim Union in the Czech Republic, has given media appearances in which he has doubted whether Islamists were responsible for several high-profile terrorist attacks. Speaking in an interview with Daniela Drtinová on the internet television station DVTV and then on yesterday's episode of Czech Television's "Hyde Park" program, Abbas said the 9/11 attack on New York could have been committed by the U.S. Government; that since no one had ever found the terrorists who committed murder on a London bus it could not be proven that they were Muslim; and that now in Paris it is far from certain that it was actually Muslims who committed these attacks and that a secret service game could well be behind it all.  full story