News

Czech court reduces punishment for arson attempt on Roma building

České Budějovice, 16.10.2014 17:17, (ROMEA) Today the Regional Court in České Budějovice reduced a first-instance court verdict sentencing a man to 2.5 years in prison without possibility of parole for attempting to set a building occupied by Romani people on fire. The Regional Court chanced the sentencing to 2.5 years' probation.  full story

Commentary: Islamic fanaticism is repulsive - and so is European fanaticism

Prague, 15.10.2014 19:47, (ROMEA) We are horrified by the blind violence of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and most recently by the so-called Islamic State. We are right to be horrified, as their merciless recklessness combined with fanaticism and the conviction that they own the one and only truth is repulsive, and we are all dealing with this - discussing it, theorizing about it and writing about it.  full story

Czech Republic: Winners of Chomutov local elections go to court over vote-buying

Chomutov, 14.10.2014 17:38, (ROMEA) The Czech town of Chomutov will be governed until the next elections by a coalition of the ANO 2011 movement, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) and the FOR Chomutov (PRO Chomutov) movement; representatives of those parties reached the agreement late last night. Together the three parties won 22 seats on the 35-member council.  full story

European Roma Rights Centre launches blog

Budapest, 14.10.2014 0:11, (ROMEA) The Budapest-based ERRC has launched an English-language blog in order to "stimulate conversation and debate about what’s needed to make a difference in the lives of Roma across Europe". Edited by Bernard Rorke, the blog features interviews,legal analysis, news, opinions and a "resource center" drawing from the ERRC archives.  full story

Slovakia: Romani parties nominate hundreds of candidates for local elections

Bratislava, Slovakia, 13.10.2014 22:17, (ROMEA) News server Romovia.sme.sk reported last month that hundreds of candidates running for Romani political parties will be seeking voter approval in the upcoming local elections in Slovakia on 15 November. Chairs of the Romani Union Party in Slovakia (Strana romské unie na Slovensku - SRÚS), the Romani Coalition Party (Strana romské koalice - SRK) and the Roma Initiative of Slovakia (Romská iniciativa Slovenska - RIS) confirmed to the TASR press agency that their candidates will also be running for the post of mayor.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani-profiled parties fail in local elections, ultra-right wins in Duchcov

Prague, 13.10.2014 20:49, (ROMEA) The results of this weekend's local elections in some socially excluded localities significantly exceeded the average results for certain candidates in the municipalities of which those localities are a part. The greatest success by Romani candidates was scored in Trmice, while other Romani candidates for non-Romani parties are taking council seats elsewhere in the country as well.  full story

Czech NGOs have evidence of massive vote-buying in local elections

Prague, 13.10.2014 19:10, (ROMEA) The NGOs Anticorruption Endowment (Nadační fond proti korupci - NFPK), "Our Politicians" (Naši politici), "Renewal" (Oživení) and Transparency International reported today that massive vote-buying occurred during the local elections in the Czech Republic this past weekend. "The basic building block of democracy - free elections - has been impaired and vote-buying has become an advantageous business. The manipulation took place primarily in North Bohemia and North Moravia. We had representatives throughout the area and we intensively monitored these events. We are also proposing specific legislative measures that would prevent this illegal behavior," the NGOs said today.  full story

Slovakia: Artist involves Romani volunteers in revitalizing apartments

Sečovce, Slovakia, 13.10.2014 17:26, (ROMEA) Artist Tomáš Rafa, the winner of the 2011 Oskar Čepan Prize, has painted an apartment building in the Nová ulice settlement near the village of Sečovce together with activists and Romani volunteers. The work is a continuation of his long-term project called "Walls of Sports", during which artists and the residents of Romani settlements have been painting the segregation walls throughout eastern Slovakia in recent years in order to draw attention to the isolation of the Romani minority from the majority society there.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani woman films vote-buying in Bílina

Prague, 13.10.2014 16:33, (ROMEA) Police are investigating a case of alleged vote-buying in the town of Bílina (Teplice district). Alena Bartošová, spokesperson for the Regional Police, told the Czech News Agency the incident was reported to police on Saturday.  full story

Estonian Parliament approves registered partnership law

Tallinn, 11.10.2014 23:19, (ROMEA) Yesterday the Estonian Parliament became the first country on the territory of the former Soviet Union to approve a law on registered partnership that applies to same-sex couples. The new "law on coexistence" was approved by a close majority of 40 votes in favor and 38 against with 10 abstentions.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani candidates win three council seats in Trmice

Trmice, 11.10.2014 22:58, (ROMEA) A group of Romani candidates who decided to run in the local elections in Trmice has enjoyed success. The "Together for Trmice" (Independent Choice) movement, led by Martin Bajger, ended up winning 19.22 % of the vote, coming in second place and seating three people on the Trmice council.  full story

ERTF reproaches Czech Republic for being too restrained in combating racism

Paris, 11.10.2014 22:22, (ROMEA) The European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) is reproaching several European states, the Czech Republic included, for their "restraint" in combating anti-Romani racism and improving everyday life for Romani people. Agence France-Presse reports that the ERTF named the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and four other countries in a report published yesterday as examples.  full story

System of negative and positive votes in the Czech Republic could increase participation

Prague, 11.10.2014 21:23, (ROMEA) Karel Janeček, the founder of the Foundation against Corruption (Nadačního fondu proti korupci - NFPK), told the press on Thursday that the NGO is performing a survey to test a new voting system called Democracy 2.1 during the ongoing local and Senate elections. The system would consist of people directly casting ballots for two candidates for mayor or senator instead of one.  full story

Gyulla Banga: Roma Pride or a cheap circus?

Prague, 11.10.2014 1:03, (ROMEA) This year, just like last year, I did not attend Roma Pride. Just like hundreds of other Romani people in Prague, who should completely logically outnumber other Roma from around the country, I wasn't there.  full story

Czech Republic: Academic appointment sparks international protest

Prague, 10.10.2014 23:12, (ROMEA) As of 1 October, Doc., PhDr. Marek Jakoubek, PhD, an anthropologist and internal instructor at the Anthropology Department of the Philosophy Faculty of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň, has taken the helm of the Institute of Ethnology at the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University in Prague. Docent Jakoubek was named to the position by the Dean of the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University in Prague, Doc. Mirjam Friedová, at the recommendation of an independent commission.  full story

Czech Police investigating possible vote-buying in some towns

Litvínov/Lovosice, 10.10.2014 21:51, (ROMEA) The Czech Police are investigating possible vote-buying in the towns of Litvínov (Most district) and Lovosice (Litoměřice district). Polcie spokesperson Alena Bartošová told the Czech News Agency that some residents of the Janov housing estate were said to have received offers of financial remuneration for their votes.  full story

Czech ombud: Discrimination against Roma underreported

Brno, 10.10.2014 19:08, (ROMEA) In a recent interview with Czech ombud Anna Šabatová, news server iDNES.cz touches on many current topics related to her work. In addition to discussing the much-publicized case of Muslim nursing students who left their studies because of a school's ban on head scarves, the ombud answered questions about her deputy, Stanislav Křeček, the adoption of children by registered same-sex couples, and extensive discrimination against Romani people in housing, on the labor market, and in other areas of life.  full story

Czech Republic: Interview with local Romani candidate Ladislav Sivak

Prague, 10.10.2014 17:18, (ROMEA) Ladislav Sivak, the leading local candidate in Prague for the Romani Democratic Party (Romská demokratická strana - RDS) grew up in the Žižkov quarter of the capital. He apprenticed as a chef/waiter and worked in hospitality for 30 years.  full story

The Purge: Czech local and Senate elections in 2014

Prague, 9.10.2014 23:01, (ROMEA) Aggression, hatred and vulgarity: These are the main features of the campaign in the runup to this weekend's local and Senate elections in the Czech Republic. What's more, intolerance, racism and xenophobia are not just fads being followed by what are traditionally extremist, obscure, small movements and parties.  full story

Commentary: Mayors and racism in the Czech Republic

Prague, 9.10.2014 0:28, (ROMEA) The "inadaptables" are once again scoring points in the runup to the local elections. Just as they did four and also eight years ago, many local politicians are competing to see who can promise a more aggressive intervention against the "inadaptables", subliminally understood to mean homeless people, migrants, Romani people and anyone else not favored by society (for various, often irrational reasons).  full story