Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Anti-Roma demonstrations tomorrow in Duchcov over assault

Duchcov/Prague, 28.5.2013 16:37, (ROMEA) The case of a brutal assault on a couple from Duchcov by Romani perpetrators is developing helter-skelter, with several new facts coming to light. It seems that two other Romani people, a man and a woman, did their best when arriving on the scene to get the Roma assailants to stop their violence.  full story

Czech Republic: Media downplay last weekend's racist murder

Teplice, 28.5.2013 0:28, (ROMEA) Some Czech media outlets are once again distorting their reporting of a case from north Bohemia, this time from the town of Teplice, where a Romani man has fallen victim to murder. According to TV Nova and the tabloid Blesk, the man, who was almost 50 at the time of his death, was murdered because of an argument over a bratwurst he is alleged to have stolen. No other media outlets have reported that the victim was Romani. According to the testimony of one of the victim's relatives, however, the entire matter had nothing to do with the alleged theft of anything. The murdered Romani man, 49-year-old Ivan Jarka, nicknamed Mikoro, was standing up for some young Romani guys who had done nothing to anyone and were being attacked by racists. The murderer allegedly stabbed him 21 times with a knife for defending them.  full story

Czech survey: Romani people have worst coexistence, employment since 1997

Prague, 27.5.2013 4:58, (ROMEA) Relations between Romani people and the other inhabitants of the Czech Republic are evaluated as poor by 87 % of the population, while 9 % believe they are good, according to a survey by the Center for Public Opinion Research (Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění - CVVM). Compared to last year's survey, the evaluation of coexistence has deteriorated to the lowest levels since such surveys began to be conducted in 1997. The CVVM survey contacted 1 000 people over the age of 15 with questions about coexistence with Roma from 8 - 15 April 2013.  full story

Czech Republic: Owner offers Přednádraží properties to town of Ostrava

Ostrava, 23.5.2013 5:45, (ROMEA) Yesterday the owner of the ill-fated properties on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava, Oldřich Roztočil, sent an open letter to Mayor Petr Kajnar (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) offering to sell his real estate in the locality to the town and asking for a meeting. The mayor says he is not opposed to meeting with the landlord.  full story

Czech Republic: Sentencing in the street brawl that sparked 2011 unrest

Děčín, 22.5.2013 6:58, (ROMEA) Yesterday a court in Děčín handed down suspended sentences against four youths involved in the August 2011 street brawl in Rumburk that launched unrest in the Šluknov foothills. Three juveniles received sentences of between seven and eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months.  full story

Czech Republic: Platform for Social Housing says society needs homes

Ostrava, 21.5.2013 23:22, (ROMEA) The creation of a Platform for Social Housing was announced today on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava. The Platform brings together experts, nonprofit organizations and the public with the aim of defining social housing and introducing it in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech Republic: Crossbow shooter claims death was accidental

Ostrava, 21.5.2013 6:52, (ROMEA) Jaromír Šebesta, the 39-year-old man who shot a crossbow at a person he believed was a burglar in the village of Chotěbuz (Karvina district) in April 2012, went on trial yesterday before the Regional Court in Ostrava. He is charged with bodily harm resulting in death.  full story

Czech Republic: Compensation for illegally sterilized women in negotiation

Prague, 20.5.2013 12:38, (ROMEA) Last week the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner participated in a round table to review the options for compensating women who have been illegally sterilized. The meeting was convened by the Czech Helsinki Committee and chaired by its past president, Anna Šabatová.  full story

Czech Govt Human Rights Commissioner: The term “inadaptable” deprives Roma of their humanity

Lety u Písku, 19.5.2013 12:00, (ROMEA) Dear survivors, dear ladies and gentlemen,  full story

Czech Republic: Romani woman files charges against neighbor for slander

Ústí nad Labem, 18.5.2013 9:35, (ROMEA) The regional daily Ústecký deník has used the term “war” in its reporting about an incident last weekend in the Krásné Březno neighborhood of Ústí nad Labem. Police are now investigating.  full story

Czech Republic: Roma ghettos have CCTV systems but no playgrounds

Lety u Písku, 17.5.2013 19:45, (ROMEA) Dear survivors, my dear Roma, activist friends, ladies and gentlemen,  full story

Czech organizers cancel wrestling match featuring Hitler-tattooed neo-Nazi in response to protests

Prague, 17.5.2013 18:31, (ROMEA) Organizers have cancelled a match featuring the Hungarian neo-Nazi Attila Petrovszki that was supposed to be part of a martial arts tournament Friday, 17 May at the Sparta Arena in Prague. During the course of Thursday, 16 May, more and more people protested his participation, with the City of Prague, Czech Television, and the Pražská energetika (PRE) electric company all distancing themselves from the tournament.  full story

Růžička: Xenophobia against Romani children rising among Czech students

Lety u Písku, 15.5.2013 11:12, (ROMEA) Your Eminence, Dear Guests,  full story

Czech court initiates distraint against Přednádraží landlord, auction may result

Ostrava, 15.5.2013 7:04, (ROMEA) A court has initiated distraint against Domy Přednádraží, s.r.o., the firm that owns properties in the ghetto on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava. The decision was made at the request of Ostrava Waterworks and Sewerage (Ostravské vodárny a kanalizace - OVAK), which is owed several hundreds of thousands of crowns by the firm.  full story

Czech Republic: Preparatory committee for new Romani Democratic Party meets

Prague, 14.5.2013 6:59, (ROMEA) The Mediafax agency reports that Romani people in the Czech Republic are preparing to establish a new political party, the Romani Democratic Party (Romská demokratická strana – RDS). Miroslav Tancoš, the head of the party’s preparatory committee, said the group met in Prague on 11 May 2013 and intends to register with the Czech Interior Ministry this week.  full story

Cardinal Duka leads prayers for Romani victims of Lety

Lety u Písku, 13.5.2013 23:15, (ROMEA) Cardinal Dominik Duka and approximately 100 other people commemorated the Romani victims of Nazism today at Lety by Písek. US Ambassador Norman Eisen, Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí) chair Štefan Tišer, Miroslav Kováč of the FORUM association, Green Party (Strana Zelených) chair Ondřej Liška, Czech Pirate Party (Česká pirátská strana) chair Ivan Bartoš, and activists Imrich Horvát of Ostrava, Ivanka Mariposa Čonková and Ondřej Slačálek of Prague, Míra Brož of Ústí nad Labem, and Emil Voráč of the Khamoro association in Chodov all paid their respects to the memory of the Romani people who perished during the Second World War in the concentration camp at Lety.  full story

Czech Interior Ministry: Extremists have won over new patrons online

Prague, 12.5.2013 16:27, (ROMEA) A Czech Interior Ministry report about extremism in the country last year will be reviewed by the Government this coming Wednesday. According to the report, Czech extremists shifted their activities more to the internet in 2012.  full story

Romani students from Czech Republic excelling at British school

Leicester, 10.5.2013 17:19, (ROMEA) News server Aktuálně.cz has run a photo-essay on Babington Community College in the English town of Leicester. At first glance it seems no different from other English schools, but it is actually a very specific facility. More than half of its pupils (54 %) are children whose mother tongue is not English. They are the children of the local immigrants who comprise a significant proportion of the town’s population.  full story

Victims of the breakup of Czechoslovakia have one year left to resolve their situations

Ústí nad Labem, 10.5.2013 2:38, (ROMEA) On Tuesday, 7 May 2013, a round table was convened in the Czech town of Ústí nad Labem by the Counseling Center for Citizenship/Civic and Human Rights (Poradna pro občanství/Občanská a lidská práva) on the issue of new draft legislation about citizenship. The round table was attended by 20 experts from local authorities, NGOs, and Czech Police.  full story

Commission: EU funds should support Romani social inclusion from 2014 on

Brussels, Belgium, 7.5.2013 17:17, (ROMEA) The European Commission has announced that the Member States should ensure that their plans for investment from the EU funds during the next seven-year period (2014-2020) also count on the social inclusion of the Romani population. Romani nonprofit organizations and experts on this issue should therefore participate in designing this next period of funding.  full story