Czech Republic

Czech Gov't approves restricting housing subsidies to stop trafficking in poverty

Prague, 2.7.2014 19:27, (ROMEA) The housing supplement provided by the Czech state to tenants in residential hotels should now be provided on the basis of the physical space being used, not per person. Rents should also be limited to the amount usually paid in a particular local area.  full story

Czech Police arrest family gang for allegedly trafficking in heroin

Brno, 2.7.2014 18:50, (ROMEA) Detectives have arrested three people in Brno on suspicion of selling heroin. An 18-year-old girl, her 40-year-old mother-in-law and her 54-year-old uncle are all being prosecuted.  full story

Czech ombud: Towns need state financial aid and active employment policy

Ústí nad Labem, 2.7.2014 18:20, (ROMEA) Today the Czech Public Defender of Rights (ombud) Anna Šabatová visited Předlice, the largest ghetto in Ústí nad Labem, and said the state should aid towns grappling with problems in socially excluded localities. She also said building works authorities should have greater powers and that in necessary cases, properties should be expropriated.  full story

Czech Interior Minister visits ghetto, says housing must improve

Olomouc Region, Czech Republic, 2.7.2014 17:42, (ROMEA) Socially excluded localities and the situation with firefighters and police were the main topics of a visit paid by Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec to the Olomouc Region today. The visit was part of the minister's ongoing series of trips to the regions.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion ends one three-year cycle, new one begins

Prague, 1.7.2014 18:23, (ROMEA) Yesterday the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion concluded eight of its three-year collaborations with local governments to address the issue of social exclusion. Thanks to these agreements, many new services, jobs and other support activities are now being run by these towns and local organizations.  full story

Czech project on local politics shows importance of discussing Roma issues with students

Prague, 30.6.2014 20:10, (ROMANO VOĎI) As part of a project called the "Local Politics Role-Playing Game", we have once again been encountering anti-Romani sentiment among students in Czech high schools. Are these genuinely racist attitudes these students hold, or is this about a lack of communication?  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister: I don't comment on extremists

Prague, 30.6.2014 18:13, (ROMEA) Czech MP Tomio Okamura, the chair of the Úsvit ("Dawn of Direct Democracy") movement, has said he would abolish the post of Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation. He believes it is a waste of money.  full story

Czech court says former MP may be sued for inciting anti-Roma hatred

Brno, 30.6.2014 17:40, (ROMEA) Former Czech legislator Otto Chaloupka, who is facing a lawsuit over statements he made about Romani people on the Facebook social networking site, has failed with a request for the case to be exempted from the jurisdiction of law enforcement. The Supreme Court has decided in closed session that the District Court for Prague 1 may hear the case.  full story

Czech mayor says he hopes Roma newcomers will leave his town soon

Dolní Poustevna, 27.6.2014 23:38, (ROMEA) The mayors of villages throughout the Šluknov foothills recently sent a letter to the Czech Prime Minister asking the state for help and warning that last year's hate marches against Romani people could be repeated again this summer. During the summer of 2011, neo-Nazis convened a series of marches in towns throughout northern Bohemia and outraged citizens from the region, which is afflicted with high unemployment, threatening to lynch Romani people there.  full story

History of an excluded Romani locality in a rich Czech town

České Budějovice, 27.6.2014 22:43, (ROMEA) Exactly one year ago, the town of České Budějovice became proof that social unrest wasn't only happening in troubled areas in the north of the Czech Republic. Czech Radio reports that a study released by the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion now shows how this town, one of the wealthiest in the country, became the scene of violent street clashes last year.  full story

Czech court conditionally releases racist murderer of Romani man

Pardubice, 27.6.2014 22:02, (ROMEA) A Czech court has released Vlastimil Pechanec, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2003 for racially motivated murder in the town of Svitavy. Pechanec is leaving prison in Pardubice after serving almost 13 years of his sentence.  full story

Czech town revives housing estate through employment policy

Most, 26.6.2014 23:21, (ROMEA) The infamous housing estate of Chanov on the outskirts of the Czech town of Most has improved its reputation in recent years. The housing estate now features newly-plastered buildings, cleaning crews that shuttle through the grounds, and relative calm.  full story

Czech Republic: Death of Milada Horáková commemorated

Prague, 26.6.2014 22:59, (ROMEA) People are gathering at several locations in Prague today to commemorate the judicial murder of Czechoslovak politician Milada Horáková. She was executed 64 years ago on 27 June.  full story

Czech town bans outdoor screening of film in which Roma resident performs

Duchcov, 26.6.2014 20:27, (ROMEA) The Aerofilms distribution company is cooperating with the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion to screen the film "Cesta ven" (The Way Out) in 10 towns that have problems with excluded localities. In Duchcov the film was meant to be screened outdoors in a public space in the southern part of town which is mostly inhabited by Romani people.  full story

Czech senator pays fine for racism, appeals to Constitutional Court

Prague, 26.6.2014 18:21, (ROMEA) Czech Senator Vladimír Dryml has paid his fine of CZK 20 000 for verbally assaulting a Yemeni doctor. The sanction was handed down by the Senate's Committee on Immunity, which found that Dryml's remarks had a racial subtext.  full story

Czech court wants EP threshold lowered, extremists would have it easier if so

Prague, 26.6.2014 17:27, (ROMEA) The Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic (Nejvyšší správní soud - NSS) is proposing that the Constitutional Court abolish the 5 % threshold for becoming a Member of the European Parliament. The elections appeal panel has sided with a motion filed by the Czech Green Party and the Czech Pirate Party.  full story

Commentary: Death in Czech town shows state of Romani empowerment

Prague, 25.6.2014 23:58, (ROMEA) The current story of Romani people in the Czech Republic is not just about court cases, hate marches, or problems related to discrimination. Beneath the surface, a process of empowerment is underway.  full story

Karel Holomek: "Positive discrimination" - nonsense or a total misunderstanding?

Brno, 25.6.2014 20:27, (ROMEA) The news that Czech Human Rights Minister Dienstbier intends to submit the 2020 Romani Integration Strategy to the Government has sparked horror in political circles across the political spectrum here, or at best has sparked a reaction of total rejection. This has happened on the basis of a suggestive question asked by the tabloid daily Parlamentní listy, namely, whether these politicians support the "positive discrimination" of Romani people?  full story

Czech bank ad shows swarthy man as criminal

Prague, 25.6.2014 18:57, (ROMEA) ČSOB bank has evidently decided to traffic in the anti-Romani sentiment in Czech society in its latest ad campaign. The visual image concerned is part of a campaign advertising the bank's insurance products, featuring the slogan "Insure your family silver before you leave to get bronzed", and shows a thief robbing a house.  full story

Interactive game "Czechoslovakia 1938 -1989" teaches students about the Romani Holocaust

Prague, 24.6.2014 20:40, (ROMANO VOĎI) The phrase "school through play" applies literally to the case of the instructional simulation game "Czechoslovakia 1938-1989" (Československo 38-89). Using a combination of a computer game and interactive comics, students are led through key moments in contemporary Czechoslovak and Czech history so they can "experience" the events of that time from the perspectives of various people.  full story