News

Czech court sentences two of the four brawlers in Duchcov incident

Duchcov/Teplice, 1.2.2014 22:59, (ROMEA) A court in Teplice issued its ruling on 28 January in the case of those involved in an illegal manhunt for the organizer of anti-Romani demonstrations in the town of Duchcov, a group of four who ended up assaulting two mistakenly identified men. The judge has sentenced two of the defendants to prison, put one on probation, and acquitted the fourth.  full story

Slovakia: Brutal neo-Nazis who terrorized Nitra are back on the street

Nitra, Slovakia, 1.2.2014 21:25, (ROMEA) Five brutal neo-Nazis suspected of attacking customers at the Mariatchi Bar in Nitra, Slovakia are back on the streets. They were in police custody from last Tuesday evening until Thursday morning.  full story

Roma are EU citizens too, Romanian President says

Bucharest, 1.2.2014 13:49, (ROMEA) Romanian President Traian Basescu on Friday (31 January) strongly defended freedom of movement within the EU, saying Roma have the same rights as other EU citizens and should not be misused for populist campaigns.  full story

Mudslide engulfs houses in suburb not far from Vatican City

Rome, 1.2.2014 13:22, (ROMEA) A landslide Friday sent mud into the streets of a Rome suburb, engulfing houses inhabited by poor people and immigrants not far from the Vatican, police said.  full story

Slovakia: Romani victims of police harassment testify

Košice, Slovakia, 1.2.2014 4:51, (ROMEA) A Slovak court has just completed a two-day hearing into the case of police officers who harassed Romani boys in 2009. Four of the children and several of their parents have testified to date.  full story

Czech MEP candidate wants to ban immigration into the EU

Prague, 1.2.2014 4:08, (ROMEA) Klára Samková, a candidate for the European Parliament on the ticket of the Dawn of Direct Democracy (Úsvit přímé demokracie) party, is continuing the harsh rhetoric of party chair Tomio Okamura. Samková has released a statement in favor of a total ban on immigration into EU countries.  full story

Slovakia: New extremism-related misdemeanors a challenge for police

Bratislava, Slovakia, 1.2.2014 3:05, (ROMEA) Starting in February, perpetrators who engage in the promotion of extremist opinions in Slovakia will be at risk of fines, not imprisonment. The Slovak daily SME reports that a legislative amendment now defines certain displays of extremism as misdemeanors.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani enrolments into first grade exceeding capacity of school in Předlice

Ústí nad Labem, 30.1.2014 7:01, (ROMEA) Martin Košnar, director of the primary school in the Předlice quarter of Ústí nad Labem, says that exponentially more children than usual are enrolling into the first grade there. All of the children enrolled there are of Romani nationality.  full story

Slovakia: Police arrest neo-Nazis in Nitra, investigative delays to be reviewed

Nitra, Slovakia, 29.1.2014 17:52, (ROMEA) News server SME.sk reports that yesterday evening, police in Nitra finally arrested five neo-Nazis whose brutal assault on the defenseless customers of the Mariatchi student bar was captured by municipal police cameras last year. The video footage of the brutal assault was made public and media began to report on the case, apparently speeding up the police investigation.  full story

Slovakia: Neo-Nazis terrorizing bar owned by anti-racist activist with impunity

Nitra, Slovakia, 29.1.2014 7:21, (ROMEA) News server Sme.sk reports that right-wing extremists have been terrorizing a bar frequented by students in the town of Nitra, breaking the owner's leg and kicking two other people there into unconsciousness during one incident. One of the attacks was captured on video by a municipal security camera three months ago, but it is only now that an indictment is on the horizon.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani candidate proposed for Deputy Human Rights Minister

Prague, 28.1.2014 7:54, (ROMEA) Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the chair of the Czech Social Democrats, and Andrej Babiš, chair of the ANO movement, have not yet reached agreement on deputy ministerial appointments for the incoming cabinet. The names of some of the deputy ministers that ANO intends to send to the ministries have now been revealed.  full story

Commentary: The lessons of Ukraine, or, how to avoid fascism and violence

Kiev/Prague, 27.1.2014 19:55, (ROMEA) Reflections on the recent developments in Ukraine and their connection to current affairs in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech lower house speaker condemns MP’s visit to neo-Nazi convicted of racially-motivated murder

Prague, 27.1.2014 15:27, (ROMEA) Czech MP Jan Hamáček (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD), the speaker of the lower house, has commented on the recent visit paid by Czech MP Tomio Okamura to Vlastimil Pechanec, who is serving time for the racially-motivated murder of a Romani man, calling the visit “extremely inappropriate and unfortunate.” Hamáček posted the comment through Facebook as follows: “In my opinion this casts a negative light not only on Mr Okamura and his party, but on the entire Chamber of Deputies.”  full story

Hungary makes historic apology for its role in the Holocaust

Hungary, 27.1.2014 14:41, (ROMEA) Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Hungary has apologized for the first time ever for the role the country played in the Holocaust. News agency MTI reported today that the apology was made on Thursday by the Hungarian Ambassador to the UN, Csaba Körösi.  full story

Analysis: What if the Czech MP clears the neo-Nazi?

Litvínov, 27.1.2014 10:06, (ROMEA) Tomio Okamura, known to the Czech public as a more acceptable alternative to Tomáš Vandas, the chair of the ultra-right Workers' Social Justice Party (DSSS), has paid a visit to neo-Nazi Vlastimil Pechanec at the prison in Pardubice where he is serving a 17-year sentence for the murder of Otto Absolon, a Romani man. Okamura believes Pechanec's trial by three first-instance judges, three appeals court judges, and three Supreme Court justices was manipulated and politicized.  full story

French MP avoids jail after saying Adolf Hitler "maybe didn't kill enough" Roma gypsies

Paris, 26.1.2014 14:04, (ROMEA) A French MP has avoided jail after he was caught on camera saying “Hitler maybe didn't kill enough of them” during an altercation with a Roma community close to the town he is mayor of.  full story

Hungarian far-right leader Gabor Vona vows to address rally in London

London, 26.1.2014 13:45, (ROMEA) The leader of an extreme Hungarian nationalist party has declared that the furore over his controversial visit to London on Sunday has made him even more determined to speak in Britain.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister-designate: Populism won't resolve ghettos

Prague, 26.1.2014 7:09, (ROMEA) Czech Senator Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) has said he would like to legislate the right of every child to a place in preschool, greater powers for the ombudsman, and the opportunity for gay and lesbian couples to adopt when he takes up the post of human rights minister. While in office, he intends to spend most of his time on the issue of social exclusion and has a plan for supervising the cohesion and effectiveness of state measures in that area.  full story

Czech Republic: Trial to start in case of violent death of a Romani man at the hands of police

Kynšperk nad Ohří, 25.1.2014 17:04, (ROMEA) Here in the Czech Republic, the media in general and this news server in particular are often criticized for reporting too often on racially-motivated crimes committed against Romani people. The following example shows that this is not always the case, as there are many such cases that quickly fizzle out without the media following them at all.  full story

Czech Republic: Trial of brutal interethnic assault in Duchcov to start

Ustí nad Labem, 25.1.2014 15:48, (ROMEA) In February the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem will begin trying the case of a brutal assault perpetrated last year in the town of Duchcov (Teplice district). Judge Markéta Morkusová informed the Czech News Agency of the planned trial yesterday.  full story