Czech Republic

Commentary: Violence in Duchov and Teplice, superficial media are worsening coexistence

Prague, 6.6.2013 21:53, (ROMEA) This commentary was originally published in Czech on 29 May 2013.  full story

Czech media misreport that victim of crossbow shooting was allegedly a thief

Prague, 6.6.2013 19:17, (ROMEA) The incident in Chotěbuz that was recently ruled on by the court was not one in which a thief (or even an alleged thief) was shot with a crossbow. The person who was shot was with a small group of scrap metal collectors who claimed to always perform their activities with the permission of the owners of the buildings or the land from which they did the collecting.  full story

Czech Police: Only one Romani person involved in new incident in Duchcov

Duchcov, 6.6.2013 18:05, (ROMEA) News servers iDNES.cz and TÝDEN.CZ report that in the Czech town of Duchcov a mood of enmity still prevails between the majority-society population and Romani residents. Tensions were not ameliorated by a recent public meeting convened by Mayor Jitka Bártová.  full story

Czech Republic: Protest tomorrow in Teplice honors Romani murder victim

Teplice, 6.6.2013 17:52, (ROMEA) "If you care about why our people are being murdered, if you care about your children's future, come and let's say ENOUGH together!" This is the motto of a demonstration to be held in the North Bohemian town of Teplice tomorrow, 14 June, at 15:30.  full story

Czech Republic: Charges filed against former senator for inciting hatred against Roma

Prague, 5.6.2013 16:53, (ROMEA) Criminal charges have been filed against Petr Pakosta, a former senator for the Civic Democrats (ODS) who is now an independent, over statements he has made about Romani people. The specific comments concered are the following, which were posted to his publicly accessible Facebook profile along with an article about a recent incident of assault allegedly perpetrated by Romani people against a married couple in the town of Duchcov:  full story

videoCzech cop knocked Romani child from pram but the mother is being charged

Rokycany, 4.6.2013 21:08, (ROMEA) Police spokesperson Hana Kroftová has informed news server Romea.cz that the municipal police officer in Rokycany who knocked over a pram with a 16-month old Romani infant in it during a careless and violent intervention against the child's mother will not be brought up on criminal charges. His actions have now been submitted to the Rokycany municipal authorities for misdemeanor review because detectives decided they did not rise to the level of a felony.  full story

Czech Republic: Birth of Roma quintuplets prompts hate online

Prague, 3.6.2013 23:25, (ROMEA) A wave of racist hate has been expressed against the Romani parents of newborn quintuplets and those assisting them in the Czech Republic. The response is most apparent online, either in discussion posts responding to mainstream news articles about the safe delivery of the children, or in comments posted to social networking sites.  full story

Czech Republic: Crossbow shooter gets 10 years for manslaughter of Romani man

Ostrava, 31.5.2013 21:45, (ROMEA) Jaromír Šebesta (age 39), the crossbow shooter from the Czech town of Chotěbuz, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter of Martin Hospodi. The Regional Court in Ostrava handed the verdict down today.  full story

Czech Republic: 500 at anti-Roma demo, police keep neo-Nazis from attacking

Duchcov, 30.5.2013 2:51, (ROMEA) In the Czech town of Duchcov (Teplice district) about 500 people demonstrated in response to an attack perpetrated by a group of Romani people against a young non-Romani married couple in mid-May. Police have already charged five assailants with grievous bodily harm in the case.  full story

Czech mayor refuses to speak with relatives of Romani man murdered in his town

Teplice, 29.5.2013 17:54, (ROMEA) On Tuesday 28 May 2013, the friends and relatives of a Romani man killed on a square in Teplice recently during the grand opening of the spa season gathered in front of the town hall to remember the victim. The man's relatives consider his murder to have been a racist attack and are bothered by the fact that the victim has been described in the Czech media as a thief. Initial media reports on the incident said a stallkeeper attacked the 49-year-old man over the theft of two bratwurst.  full story

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