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Czech Republic: Simultaneous neo-Nazi demos in Ostrava and Plzeň

Ostrava/Plzeň, 1.3.2014 19:14, (ROMEA) Today approximately 70 neo-Nazis passed through Plzeň during an event announced as a march to uphold the rights of all "decent citizens" of the Czech Republic and to protest the ROMEA organization. The neo-Nazis set out at 14:45 from Republika Square and marched down Františkánská, Martinská, Americká and Tylova Streets to Emil Škoda Square.  full story

Czech Republic: "Change for Plzeň" to counter-protest neo-Nazis tomorrow

Plzeň, 28.2.2014 21:20, (ROMEA) "Change for Plzeň" (Změna pro Plzeň) will participate in Saturday's civil "Happening for a Society without Prejudice", as it considers it a moral norm characteristic of a mature democracy for a political party to express a clear position against destabilizing tendencies in society. News server Romea.cz publishes the party's statement on tomorrow's march by right-wing extremists in full translation below:  full story

Jarmila Balážová to become spokesperson for Czech Human Rights Minister

Prague, 28.2.2014 20:47, (ROMEA) Jarmila Balážová, the chair of the administrative board of ROMEA, o.p.s. and the editor-in-chief of the monthly Romano voďi, is leaving those positions after 12 years. She will become the spokesperson for Jiří Dienstbier, Minister of Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation who chairs the Czech Government's Legislative Council, and will also manage a government department.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion may get more money and power

Prague, 28.2.2014 19:02, (ROMEA) The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion could have a stronger position in the future and perhaps even more money from the state. Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) is making such plans.  full story

Czech mayor on tomorrow's neo-Nazi march in Plzeň

Plzeň, 28.2.2014 18:16, (ROMEA) On Saturday 1 March at 14:00 a march by right-wing radicals through the center of Plzeň has been scheduled. Mayor Martin Baxa has issued a statement about this event which news server Romea.cz publishes below in full translation:  full story

US State Department: Discrimination, violence against Roma in Czech Republic

Washington, D.C., 27.2.2014 23:35, (ROMEA) Societal discrimination and violence against Romani people was a serious problem in the Czech Republic last year, according to the US State Department's annual report evaluating adherence to human rights worldwide. The State Department said the most problematic of the 200 states it evaluated are North Korea, South Sudan, Syria, and other countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.  full story

Czech Labor Ministry responds to misleading article about welfare

Prague, 27.2.2014 19:37, (ROMEA) The Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry and the Labor Office have issued a correction today to the inaccurate information reported by the daily Právo in an article about welfare written by staff writer Jiří Ginter. In addition to other claims, Ginter stated that the state has practically given up monitoring whether welfare is disbursed to suitable candidates.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani college women learn how to compete in politics

Prague, 27.2.2014 18:42, (ROMEA) Nine Romani women from all over the country who are attending college traveled to the Czech capital recently for political training. This was the third time that the Slovo 21 NGO has organized the event with financial support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation.  full story

World-famous Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía has passed away

Mexico, 26.2.2014 20:06, (ROMEA) Paco de Lucía, the phenomenal Spanish guitarist, passed away in Mexico yesterday at the age of 66. The news was announced by the artist's family and local officials in his native town of Algeciras in Andalusia.  full story

Czech neo-Nazis to hold another demonstration against Roma and the ROMEA organization

Plzeň, 26.2.2014 19:39, (ROMEA) This coming Saturday a march by right-wing radicals is scheduled to begin at 14:00 in the Czech town of Plzeň. A counter-protest by the local initiative Plzeň against Racism (Plzeň proti rasismu) is also scheduled.  full story

Ukrainian Parliament abolishes language law, neighboring states protest

Kiev, 26.2.2014 18:46, (ROMEA) Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania expressed their dissatisfaction today with a decision taken by the Ukrainian Parliament on Sunday to abolish a law on languages that was adopted in 2012. All three countries have large national minority populations living in several places throughout Ukraine and are therefore calling on the new leadership of the country to respect their rights.  full story

Commentary: Czech segregation failing another generation of Roma

Hradec Králové, 26.2.2014 18:08, (ROMEA) Rather a lot has been written about segregation in the Czech schools and about the Romani children who have been (and what is worse, still are) unjustifiably enrolled into the "practical primary schools" (formerly the "special schools"), which are designed to serve children with light mental disability - but apparently not enough has been done about it. At least, not enough to keep many non-Romani parents of first-graders from being horrified by the idea that their child might sit next to a Romani pupil in school.  full story

Czech ultra-right invites militant neo-Nazis from Ukraine's "Right Sector" to visit

Prague, 26.2.2014 16:28, (ROMEA) The right-wing extremist Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS) has invited a representative of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi group Right Sector to the Czech Republic. In addition to the democratic parties of the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (representatives: Yulia Tymoshenko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk), the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (Vitali Klitschko) and the fascist Freedom party (Oleg Tjagnybok), Right Sector is one of the most significant radical groups participating in the current revolutionary changes in Ukraine.  full story

Czech Republic: Experts testify that police officers caused Romani man's death

Kynšperk nad Ohří/Sokolov , 25.2.2014 20:59, (ROMEA) Yesterday the trial continued of two police officers from the Czech town of Kynšperk nad Ohří charged with the negligent homicide of a local citizen during a routine patrol in May 2012. This second day of the main hearing was a real delicacy for connoisseurs, as the cream of Prague's forensic medical experts gave testimony in the courtroom of this small border town.  full story

Czech TV defends serial's depiction of Roma

Prague, 25.2.2014 19:46, (ROMEA) News server Lidovky.cz reports that Czech Television and its inspection board have closed their discussion of the depiction of minorities in the serial "Ambulance 2" (Sanitka 2). Czech TV claims that all of the situations filmed for the serial are in order because they are based on the actual experiences of ambulance workers and contemporary reality.  full story

videoHungarian MEP Járóka discusses Roma issues on BBC's "Hard Talk"

Brussels, 25.2.2014 18:35, (ROMEA) Speaking on the BBC's "Hard Talk" interview program on 20 February, Hungarian MEP Lívia Járóka said the EU needs to do more to address poverty in Romani communities. Járóka, who represents the Fidesz Party, is the EP's only Romani member.  full story

videoValeriu Nicoalea: About “normal life” and scapegoating…

Bucharest, 25.2.2014 15:17, (ROMEA) On January 16, 2014 the European Commissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights said in an interview for Euronews that Roma communities need “to be willing to integrate and to be willing to have a normal life”. See the video here from minute 2.00.  full story

Czech ombud wants to help social housing, win greater respect

Prague, 24.2.2014 18:05, (ROMEA) In her role as ombud, Anna Šabatová wants to contribute to the creation of a functional social housing system in the Czech Republic and to win more respect from politicians for the Final Statements issued by the Office of the Public Defender of Rights. Speaking on the Czech Television (ČT) program "Questions with Václav Moravec", she said her predecessor, Pavel Varvařovský, may sometimes have relied too much on written communications with politicians, and when that wasn't effective, he may have reconciled himself to failure "a bit early".  full story

Swiss Supreme Court: Calling someone a "dirty" or "lousy foreigner" isn't racism

Bern, Switzerland, 24.2.2014 17:20, (ROMEA) Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that the Swiss Supreme Court ruled today that cursing people as "dirty asylum-seekers" or "lousy foreigners" cannot be considered racial discrimination. The ruling concerned the case of a police officer convicted of making such remarks who was merely fined as punishment.  full story

Czech police officers testify about 2012 death of Romani man

Sokolov, 23.2.2014 19:26, (ROMEA) Last week two police officers from the Czech town of Kynšperk nad Ohří began giving testimony before the District Court in Sokolov in the trial of a negligent homicide. The indictment charges them with having committed the offense in May 2012 while they were attempting to arrest Ludovít Kašpar, a Romani suspect who collapsed during the intervention and died in hospital two days later.  full story