Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Romani woman films vote-buying in Bílina

Prague, 13.10.2014 16:33, (ROMEA) Police are investigating a case of alleged vote-buying in the town of Bílina (Teplice district). Alena Bartošová, spokesperson for the Regional Police, told the Czech News Agency the incident was reported to police on Saturday.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani candidates win three council seats in Trmice

Trmice, 11.10.2014 22:58, (ROMEA) A group of Romani candidates who decided to run in the local elections in Trmice has enjoyed success. The "Together for Trmice" (Independent Choice) movement, led by Martin Bajger, ended up winning 19.22 % of the vote, coming in second place and seating three people on the Trmice council.  full story

System of negative and positive votes in the Czech Republic could increase participation

Prague, 11.10.2014 21:23, (ROMEA) Karel Janeček, the founder of the Foundation against Corruption (Nadačního fondu proti korupci - NFPK), told the press on Thursday that the NGO is performing a survey to test a new voting system called Democracy 2.1 during the ongoing local and Senate elections. The system would consist of people directly casting ballots for two candidates for mayor or senator instead of one.  full story

Gyulla Banga: Roma Pride or a cheap circus?

Prague, 11.10.2014 1:03, (ROMEA) This year, just like last year, I did not attend Roma Pride. Just like hundreds of other Romani people in Prague, who should completely logically outnumber other Roma from around the country, I wasn't there.  full story

Czech Republic: Academic appointment sparks international protest

Prague, 10.10.2014 23:12, (ROMEA) As of 1 October, Doc., PhDr. Marek Jakoubek, PhD, an anthropologist and internal instructor at the Anthropology Department of the Philosophy Faculty of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň, has taken the helm of the Institute of Ethnology at the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University in Prague. Docent Jakoubek was named to the position by the Dean of the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University in Prague, Doc. Mirjam Friedová, at the recommendation of an independent commission.  full story

Czech Police investigating possible vote-buying in some towns

Litvínov/Lovosice, 10.10.2014 21:51, (ROMEA) The Czech Police are investigating possible vote-buying in the towns of Litvínov (Most district) and Lovosice (Litoměřice district). Polcie spokesperson Alena Bartošová told the Czech News Agency that some residents of the Janov housing estate were said to have received offers of financial remuneration for their votes.  full story

Czech Republic: Interview with local Romani candidate Ladislav Sivak

Prague, 10.10.2014 17:18, (ROMEA) Ladislav Sivak, the leading local candidate in Prague for the Romani Democratic Party (Romská demokratická strana - RDS) grew up in the Žižkov quarter of the capital. He apprenticed as a chef/waiter and worked in hospitality for 30 years.  full story

Czech Republic: Interview with local Romani candidate Milan Horvát

Prague, 8.10.2014 22:44, (ROMEA) "When I first parked my car as a newly-elected councilor for Prague 3 in 2010, it was a big moment for me," recalls Milan Horvát, a local candidate for the Czech Social Democrats (ČSSD) who is running again on their number 7 ticket. "The guards asked me how I dared to do that - what was I doing there? When I told them I am a councilor and proved it by showing my identification card, they literally could not believe their eyes - a Romani man had become a councilor."  full story

Czech Republic: Neo-Nazis hack websites of human rights NGOs

Prague, 8.10.2014 22:00, (ROMEA) The website of the Czech Helsinki Committee (ČHV) has been targeted for attack by "nationalist" hackers from the White Media group. The hackers publicly announced on their own website that they attacked the human rights organization as part of their annual "Week against Anti-Racism and Xenophilia", which began on 28 September.  full story

Czech Republic: Interview with Romani teen about his experiences in foster and state care

Prague, 7.10.2014 0:21, (ROMEA) ALBÍN AUGUSTÝN BALÁT is a Romani 17-year-old who has grown up in children's homes and foster care. His vision is clear - despite the initial obstacles he has faced in life, he wants to succeed in society and achieve his aims.  full story

Czech candidate assaulted, blames all Roma

Ostrava, 6.10.2014 22:05, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that 23-year-old Lukáš Král of Ostrava underwent a traumatic experience last week when he was attacked by an 18-year-old man just before noon at a tram stop and robbed of his mobile phone. Král, a local candidate on the list of the ANO movement, described the incident on Facebook, sparking an emotional, racist discussion.  full story

videoRoma Pride 2014 in Prague, Terne Čhave perform

Prague, 4.10.2014 21:41, (ROMEA) Prague has hosted yet another Roma Pride parade. Along with Romani people, rather a lot of people from the majority part of society, migrants living in the Czech Republic and tourists enjoyed the event as well.  full story

Czech Senator Lebeda caught in lies about Romani people

Prague, 3.10.2014 19:22, (ROMEA) News server Romea.cz has caught Czech Senator Pavel Lebeda in several lies he told during an interview with the tabloid server Parlamentní listy. Lebeda claimed, for example, that Romani families whose children attend high school receive CZK 1 000 a month from the Education Ministry and that the ROMEA organization pays them CZK 21 000 per year.  full story

Czech NGO analyses the multiple interpretations of proposed education amendment

Prague, 3.10.2014 17:32, (ROMEA) Section 16 of the much-discussed amendment to the School Act should be taught at law departments as a textbook example of how to create a law that can be interpreted for any purpose. The Czech NGO People in Need (Člověk v tísni) points this out on its website through an article recently published in Zvoní magazine.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani party asks for more ballots, raising suspicions of vote-buying

Ostrava, 2.10.2014 22:51, (ROMEA) Romani voters in Ostrava allegedly are not receiving ballots. Candidates with the Romani Democratic Party (RDS) have contacted several municipal departments in the city with demands that they issue new ones.  full story

The story of Magdalena Karvayová

Prague, 2.10.2014 19:50, (ROMEA) The case of Magdalena Karvayová is a prime example of how Czech society generates its own problems in coexistence with the Romani minority by allowing prejudices to be crudely projected into its education system. "At school a boy grabbed me in the hallway and pushed my head into a toilet bowl. When I told the teacher what happened, she told me not to complain and made me sit down," Karvayová tells us.  full story

Czech Republic: Roma claim police apply double standard

Kadaň, 1.10.2014 20:01, (ROMEA) Fear of going out onto the street alone, terror after being threatened with having one's throat cut and run over by a car, a feeling of hopelessness that neither the police nor anyone else can guarantee justice and the right to a dignified life. Police indifference to Romani residents and sympathy for the local skinhead brawlers who terrorize Roma living in the Czech town of Kadaň - all of this is leading local Romani residents to feel that a double standard applies to law and order there.  full story

Czech ombud says her deputy's article was totally out of line

Brno, 1.10.2014 18:15, (ROMEA) Anna Šabatová, the Czech Public Defender of Rights (the ombud) has sharply criticized her deputy, Stanislav Křeček, for authoring an article critiquing the work of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion. "[Mr Křeček's article] contravenes all of the principles of the work of the ombud, which are to maintain competence and confidentiality, to have a thorough knowledge of all the circumstances of a case, to listen to the other side, and what is most important, to propose measures for improving a situation should it be unsatisfactory," she has written in the daily Lidové noviny, which published Křeček's critique.  full story

Czech Agency for Social Inclusion director responds to Deputy Ombud's critique

Brno/Prague, 1.10.2014 17:25, (ROMEA) Czech Deputy Ombud Stanislav Křeček has written a critique of the activity of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion in the town of Duchcov for the daily Lidové noviny (Agentura, která nepomůže, LN 25. 9.) I would welcome it if next time he would spend more time studying our work, as it is evident from his article that he knows almost nothing about it or the situation in Duchcov.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani party defends choice of "trafficker in poverty" as candidate

Prague, 30.9.2014 23:50, (ROMEA) News server Romea.cz has prepared a series of brief interviews with Romani candidates in the upcoming local elections. This interview is with Miroslav Rusenko, campaign officer and political secretary for the Romani Democratic Party (RDS).  full story