News

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

Czech MP visits convict doing time for racially motivated murder

Prague, 25.1.2014 10:32, (ROMEA) Czech MP Tomio Okamura, chair of the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit přímé demokracie) movement and its vice-chair, Jaroslav Novák, visited Vlastimil Pechanec today in prison in Pardubice. Pechanec was convicted of perpetrating the racially-motivated murder of Ota Absolon, a Romani man, in 2001 in Svitavy.  full story

After an eight-year break, Czech Labor Ministry to follow up on excluded localities research

Prague, 25.1.2014 0:20, (ROMEA) After an eight-year hiatus, the Czech Labor Ministry has announced it wants to repeat its research into so-called excluded localities. The ministry wants to determine whether ghettos in the Czech Republic have changed and whether there are more of them.  full story

Book contrasts Eastern and Western European approaches to Roma

23.1.2014 11:37, (Romano Voďi) Last September a book by German author Norbert Mappes-Niediek, Arme Roma, böse Zigeuner (Czech title Chudáci Romové, zlí Cikáni - "Poor Roma, Evil Gypsies") was released in Czech translation by the Host publishing house. Even though at first glance it might seem to be yet another simplifying publication on this topic (such books are a dime a dozen), it is actually a very instructive and refreshing read.  full story

Notorious Czech antigypsyist says she's leaving politics

Chomutov, 22.1.2014 22:42, (ROMEA) Ivana Řápková, a former mayor of Chomutov and former MP, resigned from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) last Friday. Yesterday the daily Chomutovský deník reported she resigned because of long-term internal disagreements in the party.  full story

Czech Republic: 47 charged so far over anti-Romani unrest in České Budějovice

České Budějovice, 22.1.2014 15:49, (ROMEA) Police have so far charged 47 people in connection with last year's unrest at the Máj housing estate in České Budějovice. Some have already been given suspended sentences.  full story

Markus Pape: Freedom of speech vs. promotion of violence

Prague, 21.1.2014 22:08, (ROMEA) Freedom of speech is a basic human right. If it is violated, that can endanger the protection of other human rights.  full story

Human Rights Watch: Violations rising, tolerance declining in EU

Berlin, Germany, 21.1.2014 21:00, (ROMEA) Tolerance is declining in the European Union and cases of human rights violations are more frequent. Those are the conclusions of the report on the year 2013 by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which was just presented in Berlin.  full story

Czech suspect says Romani victim must have stabbed himself to death

Ústí nad Labem, 21.1.2014 0:09, (ROMEA) The Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem began hearing testimony on 20 January 2014 in the case of Stanislav Sýkora, who faces charges of racially motivated grievous bodily harm. Sýkora has testified that he is not guilty and that he believes the Romani victim caused his own injuries, of which he later died.  full story

Jarmila Balážová: New ministers could change Czech perceptions of gender and minorities

Prague, 20.1.2014 23:12, (ROMEA) We finally have the names of the cabinet to be led by incoming Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. This means the strange double-government situation in this country will soon be over, one that has made it very difficult for the average citizen and the public in general, who directly elected a President and deputies to the lower house, to figure out who is basically doing what, especially what the outgoing, Zeman-appointed cabinet has abolished, approved, negotiated or reallocated.  full story

Czech town tries to prevent panic and anti-Romani demonstrations

Příbram, 20.1.2014 22:07, (ROMEA) Last Friday a meeting was organized by the town of Příbram which aimed to respond to a recent petition circulating there called "For a Safe Příbram" which was authored by local resident Lenka Synková and has been signed by several hundred people. When asked why she wrote the petition, Synková said:  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister: Help, not populism, for the socially excluded

Prague, 20.1.2014 19:28, (ROMEA) Jiří Dienstbier is slated to become the next Czech Human Rights Minister. He says he would like to change the fact that same-sex couples are discriminated against in the Czech Republic.  full story

Slovakia: Villages burned by Nazis during WWII elect right-wing extremist today

Bratislava, Slovakia, 20.1.2014 0:42, (ROMEA) In the Central Slovakian villages of Kľak and Ostrý Grúň, whose inhabitants were massacred during the Second World War, most people are now voting for right-wing extremist Marián Kotleba. The online edition of the Slovak newspaper Sme notes this fact in its commemoration of the massacre, which took place 69 years ago.  full story