Czech Republic

Czech Senator warns against hatred, racism, nationalism, xenophobia

Prague, 25.1.2013 17:14, (ROMEA) Speaking today at a gathering in the Czech Senate to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Senate Vice-Chair Alena Gajdůšková (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) said, "The greatest denial of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust victims would be if people were to allow a similar tragedy to repeat itself anywhere in the world. It would be an insult to the victims of the Shoah to allow antisemitic opinions and statements to be presented publicly without responding to them appropriately."  full story

Jarmila Balážová: I will vote for Karel Schwarzenberg

Prague, 24.1.2013 17:14, (ROMEA) It has been interesting to see what the first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic has unleashed and shown us. Even though some of this all could have been predicted, I really did not expect some of the responses I have seen, just as I did not expect certain people active in cultural and public life to back the candidates they are now backing.  full story

"Housing for All" to protest evictions at Czech Labor Ministry

Ústí nad Labem, 24.1.2013 16:26, (ROMEA) A new initiative called Housing for All (Bydlení pro všechny) is responding to the ongoing scandal in Ústí nad Labem, where people who once lived in a building that became unfit for habitation because the landlord let it deteriorate are now unable to find any normal, permanent housing. In the Předlice neighborhood, where the building in question is located, almost 30 other apartment buildings are also considered unsafe by structural engineers. The risk, therefore, is that more people will be evicted in future through no fault of their own - and no one knows where they will go.  full story

Czech extremists across the board want Zeman for president

Prague, 23.1.2013 17:28, (ROMEA) Both left and right-wing extremists have expressed their support for candidate Miloš Zeman in the upcoming presidential election. The ultra-left Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Komunistická strana Československa - KSČ), led by the pre-1989 communist boss Miroslav Štěpán, has given Zeman its backing. At a party congress this past weekend, the leader of the ultra-right extremist Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS), Tomáš Vandas, expressed his support for Zeman as well.  full story

Zeman says he would not meet with the Dalai Lama if elected Czech President

Prague, 23.1.2013 16:29, (ROMEA) Speaking during a debate organized by the European Values (Evropské hodnoty) think-tank devoted primarily to foreign policy, presidential candidate Miloš Zeman (Strana práv občanů ZEMANOVCI - the Citizen's Rights Party for Zeman) said that if elected president of the Czech Republic he would refuse to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama - unless the Dalai Lama was visiting in the capacity of a big investor. Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09), who will be Zeman's opponent during the second round of presidential elections, did not participate in the discussion, reportedly for lack of time.  full story

Czech Women's Lobby wants Zeman to apologize for remarks about rape

23.1.2013 15:59, (ROMEA) The Czech Women's Lobby (Česká ženská lobby) wants presidential candidate Miloš Zeman to apologize for his recent remarks about rape as an evolutionary advantage. Zeman launched his bonmot during a televised debate last Friday when explaining to his opponent, the aristocrat Karel Schwarzenberg, why the nobility has degenerated. According to the Czech Women's Lobby, whose director, Jana Smiggels Kavková, has sent an open letter to Zeman, such remarks are insulting to all women.  full story

Civic initiatives ask senators to sue Czech president for treason over amnesty

Prague, 23.1.2013 15:27, (ROMEA) Businessman Karel Janeček, who describes himself as fighting corruption, has sent the members of the Czech Senate an appeal demanding that they discuss bringing a constitutional complaint against Czech President Klaus for treason as per Article 65 of the Constitution in connection with the prisoner amnesty he announced earlier this month. The appeal has been signed by 17 organizations including Public against Corruption (Veřejnost proti korupci) and Democracy Inventory (Inventura demokracie).  full story

How to vote in the second round of the Czech presidential election

23.1.2013 14:43, (ROMEA) Voting in the second round of the presidential elections in the Czech Republic will take place on Friday 25 January 2013 from 14:00 - 22:00 CET and on Saturday 26 January 2013 from 08:00 - 14:00 CET. Voters can choose between candidates Karel Schwarzenberg and Miloš Zeman.  full story

Czech court issues remarkable sentence in case of racist attack on Romani worker

Ostrava, 22.1.2013 4:35, (ROMEA) A first-instance court in the Czech Republic has handed down a verdict in the case of an assault committed against Mr Š.L. of Havířov last August. Judge Lubomíra Bínová sentenced a local youth, Martin Šmolka, to three years in prison without parole and ordered him to pay damages to the victim in the amount of CZK 100 000 (EUR 3 900). According to the court, the defendant (age 22) committed racially motivated grievous bodily harm and rioting (as per section 146, paras. 1, 2 letter e, 3; and section 358 of the Criminal Code).  full story

Czech Police propose charging 15 women with promoting neo-Nazism

Prague, 19.1.2013 19:44, (ROMEA) Detectives from the Czech Republic's Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) have proposed prosecuting 15 women charged with promoting and supporting the neo-Nazi movement Resistance Women Unity (RWU), according to ÚOOZ spokesperson Pavel Hanták. Police believe RWU is the women's branch of National Resistance (Národní odpor), an informal organization of Czech neo-Nazis. The women face up to eight years in prison if convicted.  full story

Czech High Court again reviews whether attorney should be removed from "machete" case

Liberec, 18.1.2013 23:34, (ROMEA) The Czech High Court will once again take up the matter of whether attorney Klára Samková should be removed from representing defendants in the so-called "machete attack" case. The incident in Nový Bor in 2011 injured three people.  full story

Czech filmmakers finish documentary about shooting death of Romani man

Prague, 17.1.2013 17:12, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that prominent documentary film directors Vít Klusák and Filip Remunda have just completed a documentary entitled "Život a smrt v Tanvaldu" ("Life and Death in Tanvald"). A trailer for the film can be seen online at http://vimeo.com/56657563. The filmmakers mapped the tense relations between Czech and Romani people in the town of Tanvald, where a Czech pensioner shot a 22-year-old Romani man to death one year ago. The case was eventually ruled one of self-defense.  full story

Romani activists ask Czech Government not to close Human Rights Section

Prague, 16.1.2013 3:27, (ROMEA) Romani students and youth activists have written to the Czech Government asking it to preserve the Human Rights Section at the Office of the Government. The activists say dispersing the agenda of the section between various ministries would endanger the protection of "the most vulnerable groups" in society, such as children, minorities, people living with disabilities, and seniors.  full story

Crisis Committee's open letter to Czech Government

Prague, 16.1.2013 2:50, (ROMEA) The following is a full translation of the Crisis Committee's open letter to the Czech Government asking it not to close the Human Rights Section.  full story

Prominent Romani figures in Czech Republic on the presidential vote

Prague, 14.1.2013 17:59, (ROMEA) The historic first round of direct presidential elections in the Czech Republic this past Friday and Saturday has determined who will compete for votes during the second round. The electorate and the electorate alone is now responsible for choosing the head of state.  full story

Former EU Commissioner's Facebook page hacked to send antisemitic posts about Czech presidential candidates

Prague, 14.1.2013 16:04, (ROMEA) The role of social networking sites and the internet has become a topic of discussion in the Czech Republic 14 days prior to the second round of voting in the presidential elections there. The significant electoral success of Karel Schwarzenberg in the first round is said to have been largely due to his online presence.  full story

Czech Republic: Zeman wins first round in some Romani neighborhoods

Chanov/Prague, 14.1.2013 1:08, (ROMEA) In the historically first direct election of the president in the Czech Republic, candidate Miloš Zeman won most of the votes cast at the Chanov housing estate in the town of Most. Voter turnout was extremely low, with only 59 voters casting ballots, a mere 6.43 % of those eligible.  full story

Schwarzenberg and Zeman face off in Czech presidential vote

Prague, 12.1.2013 19:34, (ROMEA) The next Czech president will either be former prime minister Miloš Zeman (of the Strana práv občanů ZEMANOVCI - the Citizen's Rights Party for Zeman, or SPOZ), or the chair of the TOP 09 party, current Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. Not all of the votes cast during the first round of the direct election have been counted, but no one else will be able to earn as many as would be needed to end up in first or second place.  full story

OSCE election monitor team focuses on Romani participation in Czech vote

Prague, 12.1.2013 2:59, (ROMEA) Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are following the historically first direct election of the president in the Czech Republic. Deputy Head of Mission Goran Petrov of Macedonia told the Czech Press Agency that the direct presidential election is interesting to the observers, who were invited by the Czech authorities.  full story

Czech ministers criticize public tv for allegedly racist reporting on amnesty

Prague, 10.1.2013 17:16, (ROMEA) Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats - ODS) says that most of his cabinet ministers have criticized the allegedly racist way in which Czech Television has reported on the prisoners released by the recent amnesty. The PM says Czech Culture Minister Alena Hanáková is considering filing a complaint with the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání - RRTV), but Daniela Němcová, Czech Television's Director of Communications, rejects the charges of racism.  full story