Czech Republic

Czech voters elect president directly for the first time in history

Prague, 10.1.2013 16:40, (ROMEA) Over the coming days, Czech voters nationwide will have have the opportunity to select their president for the first time in history. Up until now that role has been played by Parliament. During the first round of voting, should no single candidate receive more than half of the votes, people will at least determine which two of the nine candidates will make it to the final round of voting in two weeks' time.  full story

How the Czech amnesty has aided racist assailants

Prague, 10.1.2013 5:56, (ROMEA) News server Aktuálně.cz has published new information about the perpetrators of racially motivated violent crimes who have now been released from their sentences as a result of the Czech President's amnesty. As we previously reported (http://www.romea.cz/en/news/czech/czech-prisoner-amnesty-releases-racist-assailants-and-extremists), the infamous rowdies from Nýrsko, Boublík and Miškovič, have been released. Last year they first attacked a small group of children for no reason and then broke into a nearby home which they knew was occupied by a Romani family, where they tried to strangle a male family member using a sweatshirt.  full story

Czech presidential candidate: Democracy can't work without civil society

Prague, 7.1.2013 17:36, (ROMEA) News server Romea.cz has prepared a questionnaire for candidates running in what will be the first-ever direct election of the president of the Czech Republic. We asked all of the candidates, among other things, about their strategies for addressing the issue of social exclusion and their opinions on the integration of the Romani minority, particularly on how they intend to achieve improvements in that direction. We were also interested in their approach toward right-wing extremists, toward the issue of segregating pupils in primary schools, and toward the case of the pig farm located on the site of a WWII-era forced labor camp for Romani people.  full story

Czech presidential candidate: We must understand the specifics of each minority

Prague, 7.1.2013 16:52, (ROMEA) News server Romea.cz has prepared a questionnaire for candidates running in what will be the first-ever direct election of the president of the Czech Republic. We asked all of the candidates, among other things, about their strategies for addressing the issue of social exclusion and their opinions on the integration of the Romani minority, particularly on how they intend to achieve improvements in that direction. We were also interested in their approach toward right-wing extremists, toward the issue of segregating pupils in primary schools, and toward the case of the pig farm located on the site of a WWII-era forced labor camp for Romani people.  full story

Czech Republic: Trial of tragic death; Romani defendants say they did not want conflict

6.1.2013 1:17, (ROMEA) Last Thursday, just four months after the tragic conflict in front of the Sokolovna restaurant in Strakonice which cost Milan Šlemenda his life, suspect Ivan Demeter, who is not yet 20, stood before the Regional Court charged with committing intentional grievous bodily harm resulting in death. If convicted, Demeter faces up to 10 years in prison.  full story

Czech Supreme Court: No redress for "special school" enrollment

Prague, 3.1.2013 16:31, (ROMEA) Jaroslav Suchý has finally lost his lawsuit demanding compensation for the fact that he attended "special school" as a child. Suchý unsuccessfully sought half a million crowns (EUR 20 000) in damages from the Czech Education Ministry, but Supreme Court spokesperson Petr Knötig told the Czech Press Agency yesterday the court has rejected his appeal.  full story

Czech fans spread rumors about Romani football subsidy

Most, 3.1.2013 15:58, (ROMEA) The Mostecký deník daily has reported that several fans of the Football Academy in the Czech town of Most have been spreading allegations that a local Romani association is benefiting unfairly from municipal financing. The civic association Aver Roma (Jiní Romové - Other Roma), which is in its second year of taking care of youth from the Chánov housing estate who have football talent, rejects the charge that the town hall is "pouring lots of money" into its work.  full story

Czech prisoner amnesty releases racist assailants and extremists

Prague, 2.1.2013 23:26, (ROMEA) The amnesty announced yesterday by Czech President Václav Klaus will release several infamous Czech extremists from serving their conditional sentences. Amnesties have also been granted to perpetrators of brutal racist attacks, such as the one committed against Romani people in Nýrsko and the attack committed by a former DSSS (Workers' Social Justice Party) candidate against a Moroccan citizen in Rožmitál. According to preliminary estimates by the Czech Justice Ministry, the number of prisoners covered by the amnesty totals 6 876. That number might still change.  full story

Czech President Klaus announces prisoner amnesty in final speech

Prague, 2.1.2013 3:57, (ROMEA) In his final New Year's Day speech today, Czech President Václav Klaus evaluated the past 10 years during which he was the country's head of state. He defended democracy and traditional values, assessed the country's economic development, and criticized the European Union and the amount of regulation which, in his view, is putting the brakes on growth. The president also called for a return to national cohesion. He announced a partial amnesty for prisoners at the close of the speech.  full story

Canada may lift Czech visas once asylum process speeds up

Ottawa, 21.12.2012 18:27, (ROMEA) The Canadian media is reporting that Canada will accelerate the administration of asylum-seekers' requests for citizens of the Czech Republic. That country and 26 others are now on a list of so-called "safe states" where the Canadians believe people are not usually at risk of persecution, unlike people in other parts of the world.  full story

Czech lower house approves residency ban for misdemeanors

ROMEA, 19.12.2012 17:23, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that local authorities in the Czech Republic will now be able to ban people from residency for up to three months as a punishment for selected repeated misdemeanors. The lower house overturned a previous veto of the bill by Czech President Václav Klaus today. Klaus called the bill, initiated by Czech MP Ivana Řápková (Civic Democrats - ODS), rash, obviously populist, and possibly unconstitutional.  full story

ROMEA acceptance speeches at Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award ceremony

Prague, 13.12.2012 6:24, (ROMEA) Today US Ambassador Norman Eisen gave the 2012 Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award to representatives of the ROMEA civic association at the American Center in Prague on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.  full story

videoROMEA receives award from U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic

Prague, 13.12.2012 5:11, (ROMEA) The ROMEA civic association has become the most recent recipient of the Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award, named after the oldest daughter of the first president of Czechoslovakia. The award, which was given to representatives of the association by the US ambassador on Wednesday, 12 December 2012, is announced annually on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, which has been marked on 10 December world wide since 1950.  full story

Czech town, Romani residents want playground, other residents object

Neškaredice, Kutná Hora, 12.12.2012 17:49, (ROMEA) News server Deník.cz reports that the Kutná Hora town hall and a local Romani civic association called Čercheň want to renovate a sports field in the quarter of Neškaredice. Other local residents are not in favor of the idea.  full story

Romani activist not chosen for Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

Prague, 12.12.2012 16:38, (ROMEA) The board of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů - ÚSTR) has seated its new members: Archivist Emílie Benešová, political scientist Lukáš Jelínek, sociologist and municipal politician Michal Uhl (Green Party), and the chair of the Confederation of Political Prisoners (Konfederace politických vězňů), Naděžda Kavalírová. Čeněk Růžička was one of more than 30 candidates considered, but was not ultimately appointed.  full story

Czech Republic: Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award goes to ROMEA this year

Prague, 10.12.2012 16:25, (ROMEA) On the occasion of the anniversary of International Human Rights Day, US Ambassador Norman Eisen will present the Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award to representatives of the ROMEA civic association on Wednesday, 12 December 2012 at 18:00 CET in the American Center in Prague. The US Embassy in Prague is giving the Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award for 2012 to the ROMEA association for its longtime promotion of human rights matters of concern to Romani people in the Czech Republic.  full story

AI calls on Czech Republic to halt segregation of Romani children

Prague, 11.12.2012 16:47, (ROMEA) The human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) is criticizing the Czech Government for continuing to take a discriminatory approach toward the education of Romani children. Last week the Council of Europe also called on the Czech Republic to rapidly abolish the segregation of Romani children in education.  full story

Czech Govt compensates another woman over illegal sterilization

Prague, 11.12.2012 16:15, (ROMEA) The Czech Government has settled out of court with a woman who complained to the European Court of Human Rights that she had been illegally sterilized. In addition to compensation of EUR 10 000, the agreement includes the concession that the government was at fault. The League of Human Rights is calling on the Government to face up to the controversial history of illegal sterilizations in the Czech lands and to compensate other such women who cannot sue because of statutes of limitations.  full story

Czech town says local "militia" is not useful

Chomutov, 11.12.2012 15:53, (ROMEA) The mayor of Chomutov has announced that after a half a year of activity, the town's local militia has not measured up. Former municipal police officer Petr Kubaczka established the militia this past summer to great media fanfare after his daughter was assaulted in a park there.  full story

Council of Europe supports Czech measures to implement D. H. judgment

Prague, 10.12.2012 23:13, (ROMEA) The Czech Education Ministry has issued the following press release, which news server Romea.cz presents in translation:  full story