News

Czech Republic's quarterly report on extremism: Ultra-right trend is anti-immigration, ultra-left is unable to unify

2.5.2016 9:46 The main topics taken up by Czech extremist groups during the first quarter of 2016 were a critique and rejection of the European Union and migration. The Czech Interior Ministry published its Summary Situation Report on Extremism on 26 April.  full story

Slovak appeals court tells first-instance court to revise its verdict on police abuse of Romani boys from Košice

2.5.2016 8:48 The shameful scandal of the police abuse of Romani juveniles living at the Luník IX housing estate in the town of Košice has been dragging through the courts since March 2009. According to a report published by news server Romovia.sme.sk on 29 April, the Regional Appeals Court has now overturned the first-instance court verdict in the case of police officers charged with being accomplices to felony abuse of the powers of a public official and other crimes.  full story

Czech Republic: Neo-Nazis try to provoke local Roma in Přerov during 1 May protest

2.5.2016 7:20 An assembly and march by about 30 neo-Nazis from the National Regeneration (Národní obroda - NO) group took place yesterday in Přerov. The leader of the NO, Pavel Matějný, gave a speech very similar to those he has given to previous such assemblies.
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Slovakia: Neo-Fascist party being investigated by Prosecutor-General, could be banned

1.5.2016 19:32 The Slovak ultra-right party called "Kotleba-Lidová strana Naše Slovensko" (Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia or K-LSNS), which was responsible for the biggest surprise result in the country's recent Parliamentary elections, is now facing a possible ban. The Prosecutor-General has begun to investigate its activity after being called upon to do so by the Human Rights Institute, which filed a motion for the party, which now holds 11 seats in the legislature, to be dissolved.  full story

videoCzech Republic: 1 May assemblies against refugee reception and against xenophobia, right-wing extremists verbally assault journalists

1.5.2016 17:22 Since the early morning hours of 1 May there have been peaceful demonstrations, marches, and traditional assemblies throughout the entire Czech Republic. One demonstration against tax havens and xenophobia was attended by 250 people and began on the Square of the Republic in Prague.  full story

Czech lower house committee recommends not expanding ombudsman's powers

1.5.2016 15:04 The Czech lower house may not decide to expand the powers of the Public Defender of Rights (ombudsman) after all, as on 29 April its Constitutional Law Committee recommended supporting amendments that would remove from a proposed Government bill the option for the ombudsman to ask the Constitutional Court to repeal legislation in whole or in part and the option for the ombudsman to bring public interest lawsuits in cases of discrimination. The plenary could decide on the bill this month.  full story

Prague council members for ODS say Government's EU-funded "HateFree" campaign is an example of left-wing "extremism"

1.5.2016 13:53 Prague City council member Matěj Stropnický (Green Party/Trojkoalice) proposed earlier this week that City Hall become a "HateFree Zone", but his motion did not receive enough votes to pass. In a resolution that did pass, however, the City Council rejected violence no matter what political ideology inspires it.  full story

Czech Police charge racist activist Adam B. Bartoš with crimes against humanity

1.5.2016 12:49 On 29 April the Prague Police charged the chair of the ultra-right National Democracy group, Adam B. Bartoš, with three counts of crimes against humanity. Police say he has committed those crimes through the content of his book and other writings he has published, as well as through his public speeches.  full story

Czech activist acquitted of assaulting police officer

30.4.2016 16:42 On 28 April the Municipal Court in Prague acquitted activist Kateřina Krejčová of allegedly assaulting a police officer at a demonstration. According to the verdict, the activist not only never intended to injure the officer, but could not have injured him even if she had wanted to.  full story

Czech Republic: Criminal investigation to be sought over Romani Democratic Party's annual report

30.4.2016 15:02 Czech MPs from the Audit Committee in the lower house, which is in charge of monitoring political parties' annual reports, are of the opinion that the annual financial report of the Romani Democratic Party for 2015 contains a falsified auditor's statement. The MPs are apparently planning to file a criminal report in the matter.  full story

Czech Government condemns vandals for painting Nazi symbols around Prague

30.4.2016 14:19 At a cabinet session Thursday the Czech Government condemned those responsible for the vituperative graffiti that appeared at several locations in Prague last weekend. The perpetrators drew predominantly Nazi symbols on various buildings.  full story

Czech daily: Police investigations of hate attacks are remarkably ineffective

30.4.2016 13:34 The online news server Lidovky.cz has published a summary of recent hate attacks in the Czech Republic and the developments to date in their investigations. The article describes the circumstances of five cases, each of which has received particular media attention.  full story

Commentary: Standing with Mitko against racist violence in Bulgaria

30.4.2016 12:49 After a video surfaced on YouTube showing Mitko, a 17-year-old Romani youth from the Bulgarian village of Ovchepoltsi, being racially abused, beaten and kicked in the face for saying that he considered himself equal to his "nationalist" attacker, outrage turned quickly to solidarity. Within days, an online #RomaAreEqual campaign was launched by the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), and thousands across Europe affirmed that they "stand with Mitko" against racist violence and demanded an appropriate response from the Bulgarian authorities.  full story

Czech Republic: 11 organizations call on Terezín to fly the LGBTQ and Romani flags during traditional commemoration

29.4.2016 11:22 Eleven organizations working on LGBTQ and Romani topics have called on the Terezín Memorial to fly the LGBTQ (Rainbow) flag and the Romani flag next to the flags of nations whose members fell victim to Nazi persecution. "To our great surprise, there is no Romani flag flown at Terezín even though, together with Jewish people, it is the Roma as a group who were affected most by Nazi persecution in the Czech lands. More than 90 % of the interwar Romani population did not survive racial persecution and the war itself," the organizations write in an open letter to the members of the Commission for the Organization of the Terezín commemoration, which news server Romea.cz is publishing here in full translation.  full story

Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren supports its Diakonie organization after right-wing radical attack

28.4.2016 7:00 The leadership of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren has expressed support for its Diakonie organization in Prague after an attack by right-wing radicals who spray-painted its headquarters with threatening messages last weekend. In a statement released yesterday, members of the church leadership said aggression and calling for the death of others contravenes the spirit of the gospel.  full story

Hungary: Roma Press Center launches ironic campaign against police abuse featuring leading actors

27.4.2016 16:19 The people who can least afford it frequently become the victims of absurd police interventions in Hungary. The Roma Press Center (RSK) was led by its own experience and that idea to the following inspiration: With the aid of volunteers, they have collected the stories of specific interactions with the police and held a public contest for the most absurd police measure.  full story

Czech Republic: 2 000 demonstrate against racism in Prague after neo-Nazis graffiti "HateFree" cafés

27.4.2016 15:11 On 25 April as many as 2 000 people assembled on Jiřího z Poděbrad Square in Prague to protest against the fact that several businesses and metro stations in Prague were spray-painted with neo-Nazi slogans and symbols over the weekend. Organizers of Monday's event, called "Prague is Not Afraid", wanted to demonstrate that there is no place in Czech society for Nazi ideology and violence.  full story

Slovak court rules forcibly sterilized Romani woman to receive compensation, hospital appeals

27.4.2016 13:37 The Košice II District Court has decided that the Pasteur University Hospital violated the rights of a Roman woman whom they sterilized without securing her informed consent. The court first instructed the hospital to apologize and, in a second verdict dated 19 February, awarded the woman the right to financial compensation in the full amount requested of almost EUR 17 000.  full story

Czech Republic: Demonstrations for and against receiving migrants in Ostrava

27.4.2016 11:57 Opponents and proponents of the reception of migrants demonstrated on Saturday afternoon in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic. A total of approximately 200 people on either side assembled at two different locations in the city.  full story

ROMEA to hold public debate on "Roma in the Czech Republic - obstacles, opportunities, options" TOMORROW

27.4.2016 11:14 The ROMEA organization will be holding a public debate, "Roma in the Czech Republic - obstacles, opportunities, options" on Thursday, 28 April at the National Minorities House (Vocelova 3, Praha 2). The event will have three sections, the first of which will focus on supporting the higher education of Romani people by providing scholarships.  full story