News

videoSlovakia: Activists demolish part of segregation wall, ignoring local Romani opinion

Košice, 16.9.2014 22:37, (ROMEA) Last week pro-Romani activists demolished part of a wall in the Slovak town of Košice that separates a Romani enclave from the rest of the neighborhood; by 12 September the wall had been repaired. Both the European Union and the Mayor of Košice say the wall has been illegally erected by the local municipality without building permits.  full story

Czech Republic: Longterm Romani residents complain about Romani newcomers

Jirkov, 16.9.2014 21:44, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that the town hall of Jirkov (Chomutov district) is addressing a problem with newcomers living in commercially rented apartments. The new tenants are often Romani and are being complained about by other Romani people who have lived in the town for decades.  full story

Czech town discusses "inadaptable" residents and planned repression

Jablonec nad Nisou, 16.9.2014 21:13, (ROMEA) "Public meeting with citizens about safety in the town, coexistence with inadaptables and welfare for housing" was the name of an event that took place on the evening of Tuesday, 2 September in the Grand Hall of Jablonec's Eurocenter, attended by roughly 300 people. Those invited included local residents, politicians, representatives of the municipal and state police, representatives of the Regional Hygiene Stations and the Building Works Authority.  full story

Interview with Romani psychologist Andrea Tibenská

Hradec Králové, 16.9.2014 19:06, (ROMEA) ANDREA TIBENSKÁ is from the town of Prievidza in Western Slovakia. She works as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist at the Psychiatric Clinic of the Teaching Hospital in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.  full story

Germany indicts 93-year-old Auschwitz guard

Berlin, 16.9.2014 16:30, (ROMEA) The Associated Press reported yesterday that prosecutors in Germany have indicted 93-year-old Oskar Gröning for participating in as many as 300 000 murders in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. Gröning worked as an SS member there and decided to speak out against Holocaust denial several years ago.  full story

Germany: Jewish community calls for more progress against anti-Semitism

Berlin, 16.9.2014 15:57, (ROMEA) The Central Council of Jews in Germany has called on police to more thoroughly combat manifestations of anti-Semitism online. Speaking in an interview for the Bavarian newspaper Passauer Neue Presse, Dieter Graumann, the head of the Jewish organization, said many authors of anti-Semitic content use their real names online.  full story

Germany: New study shows anti-Romani prejudice has deep roots

Berlin/Prague, 15.9.2014 23:21, (ROMEA) At the end of August the results were published of what is the most extensive study to date on the opinions of the German population about Romani and Sinti people in Germany. The research was performed for the Federal Anti-Discrimination Center (the ADS) by the Institute for Research into Conflict and Prejudice and the Institute for Research into Anti-Semitism, using a sample of 2 000 adults.  full story

Czech sociologist on what the Czech EdMin needs to learn

Prague, 15.9.2014 19:23, (ROMEA) Sociologist Stanislav Biler has published a commentary on iHNED.cz about Czech Education Ministry policy. News server Romea.cz presents excerpts of that commentary here in translation:  full story

Karel Holomek: Inclusive education nowhere in sight in the Czech Republic

Brno, 13.9.2014 0:26, (ROMEA) The beginning of this school year has taken place with the enrollment of the largest number of first-graders in 20 years, as many as 115 000 children starting instruction. Unfortunately, this favorable development will not continue, according to the prognoses of experts on education.  full story

Greek Parliament approves stricter prosecution of racism

Athens, 12.9.2014 22:19, (ROMEA) The Greek Parliament, after long delays, has adopted amendments to make stricter prosecution of manifestations of homophobia and racism possible and to criminalize Holocaust denial and the perpetration of crimes against humanity. Agence-France Presse reported on 10 September that Athens has long been under pressure from the EU to adopt such norms.  full story

Czech regulator finds TV NOVA broadcast false report about murdered Romani man

Teplice/Prague, 12.9.2014 20:28, (ROMEA) At the start of April, the In IUSTITIA and ROMEA organizations filed a complaint with the Czech Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání - RRTV) over a reportage broadcast by TV NOVA, the country's most-watched commerical television station. The piece, called "He killed over a sausage and got five years" was filmed by reporter Martin Kočárek.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani girlfriend of assault victim speaks out

Prague, 11.9.2014 23:12, (ROMEA) A 17-year-old boy who may have committed a brutal assault on a 15-year-old boy at a bus stop in the Malešice quarter of Prague has identified himself to police. The boy claims the entire event took place differently than has been described in the media and says his actions were committed to defend a friend.  full story

Czech Republic: Racist graffiti on Romani candidate's election poster

Prostějov, 11.9.2014 19:02, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that racist slogans such as "Black mug" and "Don't vote for niggers" have recently turned up on election posters for the ANO movement in the Czech town of Prostějov. Ondřej Provazník, a local 18-year-old Romani candidate for the movement, is the target.  full story

Czech Republic: Campaign offers young Roma a guide to the world of finance

Prague, 11.9.2014 17:12, (ROMEA) "Got what it takes?" ("Máš na to?") is the name of a new campaign from the ROMEA organization aiming to assist young Romani people with taking responsibility for themselves and their financial situations. The campaign familiarizes them with the basics of money management and the dangers of the debt trap, offering them useful tips and helping them solve problems.  full story

German court bans counter-intelligence from following ultra-left MP

Berlin, 11.9.2014 1:44, (ROMEA) German weekly Der Spiegel reports that the German Administrative Court has banned the country's counter-intelligence forces from following ultra-left politician Gregor Gysi. All of the information collected on him to date must be destroyed.  full story

Czech Republic: Equal Opportunities Party files charges against ultra-right party leaders

Děčín/Prague, 11.9.2014 0:18, (ROMEA) Miroslav Kováč, chair of the Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí - SRP), has announced that his party has filed criminal charges against DSSS chair Tomáš Vandas and vice-chair Jiří Štěpánek. News server Romea.cz is publishing this article by Kováč about those charges in full translation:  full story

Czech court acquits editor, publisher of Hitler's speeches of approving genocide

Brno, 10.9.2014 23:18, (ROMEA) Today the Municipal Court in Brno acquitted Pavel Kamas and Lukáš Novák, the owners of the Guidemedia publishing house, and publicist Stanislav Beer of approving genocide by publishing a book entitled "Adolf Hitler: Speeches" (Adolf Hitler: Projevy). The court found that publishing the book did not constitute a crime.  full story

Czech Police charge man with producing clothing with neo-Nazi symbols

Nový Jičín, 10.9.2014 17:11, (ROMEA) Police in the Czech Republic have charged a 23-year-old man from the Nový Jičín area with advertising, producing and selling clothing featuring neo-Nazi symbols. He ran the enterprise for almost a year using his father's business license.  full story

Czech Republic: Embassy employees invite rejected Romani footballers to protest match

Děčín/Prague, 9.9.2014 23:20, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that employees of the embassies of Great Britain, Northern European countries and the USA are traveling to the Czech town of Děčín to play football with the Junior Roma Football Club, which recently participated in the third-class district championship there. The embassy staffers are responding to the fact that several teams in that competition rebelled and refused to compete with the Romani footballers.  full story

Czech youth brutally assaulted for defending Romani girlfriend

Prague, 8.9.2014 22:49, (ROMEA) Police officers are looking for the young perpetrators of a racially motivated assault that occurred on 19 August at the Plaňanská bus stop in Prague 10 and would like anyone who witnessed the incident to call 158. The young man who was targeted fell unconscious to the ground during the attack.  full story