Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Lety pig farm remembered at entrance to Terezín

Terezín, 27.1.2015 19:22, (ROMEA) The Konexe association has once again called attention to the topic of the Romani Holocaust and the scandal of the pig farm at Lety by Písek within the framework of the commemoration in honor of Holocaust victims at Terezín. Miroslav Brož of the association explained his reasons for holding the event to news server Romea.cz last week as follows: "Not just the commemorative ceremony at Terezín, but the entire atmosphere around it does not assure us that the Romani people who were murdered will also be remembered in a dignified way. For example, Czech Television is preparing to broadcast a whole slate of films and other programs to mark the anniversary, including programs about the Czech resistance and about Jewish people, but not one program is about Romani people."  full story

Czech Republic: Romani NGO helps halt illegal debt collections worth more than CZK 2.5 million

Brno, 27.1.2015 18:38, (ROMEA) The Brno-based organization DROM Romani Center has long been successfully aiding people who have ended up in the debt trap because of usurious loans. In 2014 the courts halted unjustified collections proceedings against 33 clients of DROM worth CZK 2 532 000.  full story

Czech Supreme Court says "machete attack" was attempted murder

Brno, 27.1.2015 1:01, (ROMEA) The Czech Supreme Court (Nejvyšší soud - NS) has confirmed that the "machete attack" committed in the town of Nový Bor was attempted murder and that the perpetrators conspired to commit the attack in full awareness of its possible outcome. The court rejected the appeal of the four men convicted of the crime, who are serving sentences ranging from five to 17.5 years in prison.  full story

Authorities return confiscated Czech-Romani flags to artist after acquittal

Prague, 27.1.2015 0:21, (ROMEA) The story of the art project called "Selection Procedure for a Czech-Romani Flag", which was exhibited during the summer of 2013 at the outdoor Artwall Gallery in Prague on the Edvard Beneš embankment of the Vltava River has now ended with both misdemeanor proceedings that were opened against artist Tomáš Rafa ending in acquittal. "I am startled by the fact that discussions have once again erupted that are evidently being incited by ultra-right groups, because they still keep talking about this art project as having endangered the statehood of the Czech Republic or its state symbol. This was an anti-racist project that intended to support the unity of everyone in the Czech Republic," Rafa told news server Romea.cz.  full story

The forgotten Holocaust: Romani victims of the Holocaust and their place in the Czech past and present

26.1.2015 23:19, (ROMEA) On 27 January 1945 the Red Army liberated the complex of Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz, where millions of people from all over Europe suffered and died. Among them were the Romani children, men and women in the so-called "Gypsy Family Camp" in one section of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  full story

Commentary: Where does "The Way Out" lead if almost no one cares?

Prague, 26.1.2015 19:41, (ROMEA) The success of the film "The Way Out" (Cesta ven) may be having a paradoxical impact. Petr Václav's movie about the life of Romani people in a ghetto has won the Czech Film Critics Award and was selected to represent Czech cinematography at last year's Cannes Film Festival.  full story

Czech Republic: Auschwitz survivor alive today due to human error

Czech Republic, 26.1.2015 17:52, (ROMEA) Dagmar Lieblová survived her internment in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz at the age of 15 because a clerical error labeled her as older than she really was and she was able to
leave the death camp to work in Germany. Lieblová, who is the chair of the Terezín Initiative, which endeavors to preserve awareness about the Holocaust and aid survivors, told the Czech News Agency today that her survival was an accident.  full story

Commentary: France is going crazy with the fight against terrorism - what next?

Prague, 25.1.2015 5:03, (ROMEA) "We aren't Charlie and we never will be, you band of whores. You reap what you sow," is what one of four underage students in France posted to Facebook, according to the Czech News Agency, before they were arrested on 22 January by French Police.  full story

Czech President says he meant "only" the mentally disabled should be educated separately

Prague, 25.1.2015 3:53, (ROMEA) After meeting with Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD), Czech President Miloš Zeman has said that his recent remarks about handicapped children were not about the physically disabled. Chládek said that in their conversation, Zeman clarified that he had primarily meant to refer to moderately severe and profound cases of mental handicap.  full story

Czech film about Roma wins Czech Film Critics Award, as does Romani actress

Prague, 24.1.2015 23:37, (ROMEA) The winner of the Czech Film Critics Award this year is Petr Václav's "The Way Out" (Cesta ven). The film has garnered three awards for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay.  full story

Czech Republic: Museum of Romani Culture marks Holocaust Remembrance Day

Brno, 24.1.2015 22:04, (ROMEA) On 27 January 1945 the complex of Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz, where millions of people from all over Europe suffered and died, was liberated by the Red Army. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the day the "death factory", as Auschwitz is called, was closed.  full story

Czech court rules publication of Hitler's speeches was legal

Brno, 24.1.2015 20:43, (ROMEA) The publication of a book entitled Adolf Hitler: Projevy (Adolf Hitler: Speeches) is not a felony and its publisher should not face prosecution. Yesterday the Regional Court in Brno upheld the verdict of the Municipal Court in Brno from last September, which came to the same conclusion.  full story

Charges against creator of Czech-Romani flag exhibit don't stick

Prague, 24.1.2015 19:54, (ROMEA) Prague City Hall has refused to uphold a fine levied by the Prague 7 Municipal Department against an exhibition of designs for a Czech-Romani flag. The decision to levy the fine has been overturned and the proceedings in the matter halted.  full story

Czech lower house supports ratification of foreigners' rights, except to vote

Prague, 23.1.2015 20:46, (ROMEA) Yesterday during the opening round of negotiations on ratifying the international Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at local level, the Czech lower house expressed support for the Government's proposed approach. Some MPs, however, urged caution regarding ratification of the treaty.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion publishes Methodology for a Coordinated Approach to Socially Excluded Localities

Prague, 23.1.2015 18:01, (ROMEA) The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has published a document that will be the basis of its work in towns and villages during the next EU-funded programming period. The detailed material is called the Methodology for a Coordinated Approach to Socially Excluded Localities  full story

Czech extremism report: Islamophobic group uses cyber-bullying

Prague, 23.1.2015 16:35, (ROMEA) The ultra-right scene in the Czech Republic has recently focused on "combating Islam". The most active group is the Czech Defense League (CZDL), represented by "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" (IvČRN) on the Facebook social networking site.  full story

Czech Republic: Experts believe schools will not open to the disadvantaged or to Romani children

Prague, 23.1.2015 3:03, (ROMEA) Czech society is divided, elitist, incapable of achieving consensus and intolerant. It is not likely that even the best-intended attempts at reforming the primary schools will succeed any time soon.  full story

Romea.cz exclusive: Romani quintuplets' family responds to critique

Milovice, 23.1.2015 1:16, (ROMEA) A recent interview with Ms Klára Vítková-Rulíková on news server Ona.Dnes.cz about the family of Romani quintuplets has sparked a wave of passionate debate on the Czech internet. Vítková-Rulíková, the founder of the Club of Twins and Higher Multiples (Klubu dvojčat a vícerčat - KDV) discussed private family matters in that interview, among other things, accused them of wasting food, and said they were incapable of establishing a functioning system of care for their children, all of which then culminated in her claim that without her direct aid, the family risked having their children taken away by the state.  full story

Czech Republic: Five charged in brawl between Romani customers and security guards in Ostrava

Ostrava, 22.1.2015 0:18, (ROMEA) Police have charged five people so far in connection with last week's serious scuffle between Romani customers and security guards at a gaming room in the Ostrava-Bělský Les neighborhood. On Tuesday a 29-year-old man was charged with rioting in relation to the incident.  full story

Czech Republic: Romea.cz asks NGOs if they still want to change the world or just raise money?

Prague, 21.1.2015 22:55, (ROMEA) Are nonprofits still able and willing to contest majority thinking and those in power? Or are they unable to risk such conflict because they might lose their grants from individual donors and state institutions?  full story