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Czech bands boycott club in Prague that supports neo-Nazi group

Plzeň, 22.10.2014 23:12, (ROMEA) The website Plzeňské kapely.cz reports that three bands from the Czech town of Plzeň - Donnie Darko, Emmett Brown and Positive Mind - have decided to cancel their 1 November concert at the Kain club in Prague. The venue is planning to support the neo-Nazi band Ortel by letting it perform there.  full story

Commentary: European fanaticism redux

Prague, 22.10.2014 20:31, (ROMEA) My most recent commentary here was about European and Islamist fanaticism. I forgot to discuss one important thing in that context, and that is the wars in the former Yugoslavia.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani university student was first sent to "special school" as a "gypsy"

Prague, 22.10.2014 19:06, (ROMEA) Czech daily iDNES.cz reports that even when a six-year-old Romani pupil in the Czech Republic has the good luck not to be automatically assigned into the "practical" schools, a thorny path to a college degree still lies ahead. Romani pupils must overcome more snags in the Czech education system than their non-Romani peers.  full story

Slovakia: Candidate offering remuneration to Roma for sterilization

Košice, 22.10.2014 15:33, (ROMEA) Vladimír Gürtler, an attorney and the leader of the regional "Seven Brave Ones" (Sedm statečných) party who is running for a seat on the Košice City Council representing the Luník IX precinct, is behind a controversial election campaign now underway there. Many Romani people live at the Luník IX housing estate in the eastern Slovakian metropolis, which is often termed a "ghetto" by the media.  full story

Czech authorities alarmingly unwilling to prosecute online hate crimes

Prague, 22.10.2014 0:10, (ROMEA) Ill-will, incompetence or indifference. In which category does the inactivity of the Czech Police with respect to racist threats and verbal attacks belong?  full story

Romani family maligned by Czech press repeatedly attacked while asleep

Sedlčany, 21.10.2014 18:50, (ROMEA) For the past six months, a Romani family in the Central Bohemian town of Sedlčany has been living with the fear that they will once again be attacked by unidentified hoodlums breaking the glass in yet another of their windows or shouting racist threats outside their front door. The local council has helpfully approved the acquisition and installation of a new camera as part of the municipal CCTV system on their street, which could aid in deterring the incidents.  full story

Slovakia: Neo-Nazi fined EUR 400 for kicking victim in the head

Nitra, Slovakia, 20.10.2014 23:17, (ROMEA) The Slovak news server ta3.com reports that the first sentence has been handed down in the scandal of the aggressive neo-Nazis who assaulted customers of the Mariatchi Bar in the Slovak town of Nitra last year. Professional soldier Tomáš Spišiak has been fined EUR 400, which he must pay the state for having kicked a defenseless, prone person twice in the head.  full story

Karel Holomek: Czech MP in charge of education amendment is unqualified

Brno, 20.10.2014 18:37, (ROMEA) Recently I have tried not to comment on Romani affairs, as I have the feeling it could be perceived as an obsession. However, I must respond to a recent article by Martin Shab (Varování: romské děti nejsou zvláštní - "Warning: Romani children aren't special").  full story

Czech Govt tells UN that law to compensate forced sterilization will be ready in one year

Prague, 20.10.2014 17:15, (ROMEA) The Czech Government is planning to submit a law to compensate the victims of illegal sterilizations by the end of 2015. It expects to have the outlines of the legislation ready by the end of this year.  full story

Czech daily tests real estate agents' discrimination of Roma - 4 out of 5 fail

Plzeň, 18.10.2014 21:52, (ROMEA) If you're looking for housing from real estate agents in the Czech town of Plzeň, you are unlikely to encounter any problems whatsoever. One thing, however, basically must be kept secret - you mustn't be Romani.  full story

Czech amateur theater group rejects Romani boy in institutional care

Prague, 17.10.2014 19:21, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that Michal, a 16-year-old resident of a Children's Home in the Czech town of Chrudim, has had a bad experience with a local amateur theater group. Instead of being well-received there, he heard those in charge say that they have no time for babysitting and raising troubled children from the reformatory.  full story

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