News

Czech Republic: ROMEA helps tutor socially disadvantaged children

Kladno, 20.1.2015 21:58, (ROMEA) From September to December 2014, socially disadvantaged children received regular tutoring at the Pařížská Primary School in Kladno as part of a project called "Education for successful integration". One ambition of the project was to involve Romani college students as tutors.  full story

Czech Police charge seven people with transporting drugs from Ústí Region to Slovakia

Prague, 20.1.2015 21:27, (ROMEA) On the basis of collaboration between the Czech and Slovak Police, a total of 15 perpetrators were arrested at the end of 2014 and start of 2015 on the territory of each state through two separate operations targeting the extensive, illegally organized international trade in methamphetamine. The National Anti-Drug Headquarters (Národní protidrogová centrála - NPC) has charged seven people with responsibility for this alleged criminal drug activity, including the export of marijuana and methamphetamine through several courier routes from the Ústí Region to eastern Slovakia.  full story

Czech MP didn't see neo-Nazis at anti-Islamic demo, but Romea.cz did!

Prague, 20.1.2015 20:01, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that Czech MP Jana Černochová (Civic Democratic Party - ODS) is defending her participation at a demonstration at Prague Castle convened by a group called "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" by saying she didn't see any Nazis demonstrating with them. Reporters with news server Romea.cz, however, saw Vlastimil Pechanec with two friends at the demo; Pechanec was sentenced in 2003 to 17 years in prison for a racially motivated murder in the town of Svitavy.  full story

Commentary: Disabled children don't have to sit in the corner

Prague, 19.1.2015 18:05, (ROMEA) The recent remarks by Czech President Miloš Zeman about inclusion have sparked a stormy discussion here. "I am not an advocate of the opinion that children who are handicapped in a certain way should be placed into classrooms with non-handicapped pupils, because that is unfortunate for both," the President said at the Rehabilitation Institute in Brandýs nad Orlicí as part of his visit to the Pardubice Region  full story

Czech Republic: Demonstration at Terezín will demand Romani victims of Holocaust be honored

Terezín, 19.1.2015 16:35, (ROMEA) During the commemorative ceremony on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January, a demonstration demanding that Romani victims of the Holocaust be honored will take place at Terezín. The protest is being convened by the Konexe association, which among other things has long fought to see the pig farm on the site of a former concentration camp for Roma at Lety by Písek be removed  full story

Germany: Police ban assembly in Dresden today due to threat of terrorism

Dresden, 19.1.2015 15:47, (ROMEA) Yesterday police in Germany banned all outdoor assemblies planned for today in Dresden due to the threat of a terrorist attack. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that Monday's demonstration by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (Pegida) had already been canceled by the movement itself because Islamists had reportedly threatened to assassinate Lutz Bachmann, the organizer of the marches that have been taking place weekly there since mid-October.  full story

France: 42 % oppose publishing caricatures of Mohammed

Paris, 18.1.2015 23:40, (ROMEA) More than two-fifths of people in France (42 %) believe the press should avoid publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and half agree with restricting freedom
of speech online. The French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche published the results of a survey it conducted on the issue today.  full story

France: Harsh crackdown against anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate speech, comedian arrested

Paris, 18.1.2015 23:14, (ROMEA) Last Wednesday, police in Paris arrested the controversial French humorist and political polemicist Dieudonné on suspicions of supporting terrorism in connection with the recent assassinations committed by Islamist radicals there. The Associated Press reported that as of 15 January, the office of the Public Prosecutor in Paris had arrested 54 people on charges of defending or glorifying terrorism.  full story

Czech film critics nominate film about Roma for prize

Prague, 18.1.2015 22:06, (ROMEA) Six nominations for the Czech Film Critics AWard, which will be handed out for the fifth time on 24 January at Prague's Archa Theater, have been garnered by director Petr Václav's film "The Way Out" (Cesta ven). Jiří Mádl's debut "To See the Sea" (Pojedeme k moři) received five nominations and Andrea Sedláčková's "Fair Play" received four.  full story

Commentary: Czech President's remarks supported discrimination against Romani children

Prague, 17.1.2015 23:28, (ROMEA) "Handicapped children should not attend classes together with non-handicapped children" - that is approximately what Czech President Miloš Zeman said last Wednesday during a visit to a Rehabilitation Institute in Brandýs nad Orlicí. His words have sparked a firestorm of criticism from experts and politicians.  full story

Czech Republic: Protests against Islam and for religious freedom in front of Prague Castle

Prague, 17.1.2015 22:07, (ROMEA) Roughly 600 people, according to police, gathered yesterday evening in front of Prague Castle for a demonstration convened by the "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" initiative. The protest assembly lasted for roughly one hour and took place without any larger incidents.  full story

Czech Republic's "Romani elite" are under pressure

Brno/Trimice, 17.1.2015 3:04, (ROMEA) In addition to the charges of producing and distributing illegal drugs recently filed against a local Romani councilor in Trmice, Marcel Cichý, there is another, less dramatic and less visible problem affecting the country's Romani elite. The matter is a serious one nonetheless: One of the few media outlets focusing on Romani people, the magazine Romano hangos, is in a deep crisis and its original editors are in a state of conflict with one another.  full story

Czech Police investigate brawl between gaming room bouncers and Romani customers in Ostrava

Ostrava, 16.1.2015 19:47, (ROMEA) A large group of Romani customers attacked security guards on Wednesday at a gaming room in Ostrava-Bělský Les. The scuffle between the bodyguards and the customers happened
after members of the security team removed two Romani customers from the premises.  full story

Czech President Zeman wants disabled children educated separately, experts sharply criticize him

Prague, 16.1.2015 15:56, (ROMEA) The Czech Education Ministry is in favor of the broad inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream education whenever possible. Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) made that statement to the press yesterday.  full story

Ukraine: Editorial offices of "disobedient" newspaper set on fire in Kharkov

Kharkov, 15.1.2015 18:59, (ROMEA) A serious incident took place last weekend in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov when unidentified perpetrators broke windows in the editorial offices of the nationwide newspaper Slovyanka, defaced the walls with Nazi swastikas and threatening messages, and set the building on fire with Molotov cocktails. According to eyewitnesses, the group of perpetrators had been active participants in demonstrations in Kharkov honoring the victims of the Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris.  full story

Czech Republic: Local party believes Romani member is innocent of drug charges

Trmice, 15.1.2015 17:30, (ROMEA) Detectives have charged Marcel Cichý, a primary school teacher and local councilor in Trmice elected for the "Together for Trmice" movement, with illegal distribution of drugs. News server Romea.cz publishes a statement on his arrest from the "Together for Trmice" movement in full translation here:  full story

European Commission not satisfied with Czech response to discrimination of Romani children

Brussels/Prague, 15.1.2015 16:57, (ROMEA) According to new information reported by Czech Television, the European Commission is not satisfied with the response of the Czech Government regarding the issue of the discrimination of Romani children in the schools. An official response to the Government will be sent by Brussels within the next few weeks.  full story

Czech anti-drug police arrest local Romani councilor

Ústí nad Labem, 15.1.2015 16:11, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that detectives have charged Marcel Cichý, a local councilor and teacher at a primary school in Trmice, with distributing drugs. Cichý and other Romani candidates in the "Together for Trmice" (Independent Choice) movement won election to the local council last October with 19.22 % of the vote, ending up in second place and taking three seats.  full story

Czech Government grants asylum to 15 families from Syria

Prague, 15.1.2015 0:21, (ROMEA) The Czech Government has agreed to grant asylum to refugees from Syria. Czech Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Bělobrádek (Christian Democrats - KDU-ČSL) announced the decision on Twitter on 14 January.  full story

Austria rescinds ban on adoption by same-sex couples

Vienna, 14.1.2015 23:49, (ROMEA) The Austrian Constitutional Court has rescinded the country's ban on same-sex couples adopting children. The Austrian Press Agency reports that Judge Gerhart Holzinger announced the judgment today.  full story