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How to vote in the second round of the Czech presidential election

23.1.2013 14:43, (ROMEA) Voting in the second round of the presidential elections in the Czech Republic will take place on Friday 25 January 2013 from 14:00 - 22:00 CET and on Saturday 26 January 2013 from 08:00 - 14:00 CET. Voters can choose between candidates Karel Schwarzenberg and Miloš Zeman.  full story

Canada advises Romani people to stay home in Hungary

Budapest, Hungary, 22.1.2013 22:05, (ROMEA) Czech Radio reports that the Canadian Embassy to Hungary is urging Romani people not to attempt an overseas move. Since this past weekend, the embassy has been conducting a campaign in the poorest of Hungary's regions, specifically in the town of Miskolc, which has the country's highest population of Romani residents. Canada has tightened its immigration laws and has reduced the opportunity for people to receive asylum there.  full story

Czech court issues remarkable sentence in case of racist attack on Romani worker

Ostrava, 22.1.2013 4:35, (ROMEA) A first-instance court in the Czech Republic has handed down a verdict in the case of an assault committed against Mr Š.L. of Havířov last August. Judge Lubomíra Bínová sentenced a local youth, Martin Šmolka, to three years in prison without parole and ordered him to pay damages to the victim in the amount of CZK 100 000 (EUR 3 900). According to the court, the defendant (age 22) committed racially motivated grievous bodily harm and rioting (as per section 146, paras. 1, 2 letter e, 3; and section 358 of the Criminal Code).  full story

Czech Police propose charging 15 women with promoting neo-Nazism

Prague, 19.1.2013 19:44, (ROMEA) Detectives from the Czech Republic's Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) have proposed prosecuting 15 women charged with promoting and supporting the neo-Nazi movement Resistance Women Unity (RWU), according to ÚOOZ spokesperson Pavel Hanták. Police believe RWU is the women's branch of National Resistance (Národní odpor), an informal organization of Czech neo-Nazis. The women face up to eight years in prison if convicted.  full story

Czech High Court again reviews whether attorney should be removed from "machete" case

Liberec, 18.1.2013 23:34, (ROMEA) The Czech High Court will once again take up the matter of whether attorney Klára Samková should be removed from representing defendants in the so-called "machete attack" case. The incident in Nový Bor in 2011 injured three people.  full story

China: Yet another Tibetan self-immolates to protest human rights violations

Prague, 18.1.2013 22:46, (ROMEA) Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports that the first Tibetan to self-immolate in 2013 set himself on fire in China a few days ago to protest Chinese policy in Tibet. Since 2009, a total of 96 Tibetans have self-immolated so far.  full story

Czech filmmakers finish documentary about shooting death of Romani man

Prague, 17.1.2013 17:12, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that prominent documentary film directors Vít Klusák and Filip Remunda have just completed a documentary entitled "Život a smrt v Tanvaldu" ("Life and Death in Tanvald"). A trailer for the film can be seen online at http://vimeo.com/56657563. The filmmakers mapped the tense relations between Czech and Romani people in the town of Tanvald, where a Czech pensioner shot a 22-year-old Romani man to death one year ago. The case was eventually ruled one of self-defense.  full story

Italy: Forced evictions still continue

Italy, 17.1.2013 11:05, (ROMEA) Forced evictions of Romani communities and discrimination against them continued. The “Nomad Emergency” 9a state of emergency declared in 2008 in relation to the settlement of nomad communities in several Italian regions) was declared unlawful by the Council of State in November 2011  full story

Romani activists ask Czech Government not to close Human Rights Section

Prague, 16.1.2013 3:27, (ROMEA) Romani students and youth activists have written to the Czech Government asking it to preserve the Human Rights Section at the Office of the Government. The activists say dispersing the agenda of the section between various ministries would endanger the protection of "the most vulnerable groups" in society, such as children, minorities, people living with disabilities, and seniors.  full story

Crisis Committee's open letter to Czech Government

Prague, 16.1.2013 2:50, (ROMEA) The following is a full translation of the Crisis Committee's open letter to the Czech Government asking it not to close the Human Rights Section.  full story

Romania: Police investigate group offering Romani women money for sterilization

Bucharest, Romania, 15.1.2013 17:15, (ROMEA) Agence France-Presse reported today that the prosecutor in Timisoara, Romania has begun investigating a nationalist group called NAT88 for soliciting Romani women to undergo sterilizations. The group will be investigated on suspicion of "public promotion of a fascist and racist ideology".  full story

Prominent Romani figures in Czech Republic on the presidential vote

Prague, 14.1.2013 17:59, (ROMEA) The historic first round of direct presidential elections in the Czech Republic this past Friday and Saturday has determined who will compete for votes during the second round. The electorate and the electorate alone is now responsible for choosing the head of state.  full story

videoHungary: Hundreds protest governing party over anti-Romani commentary

Budapest, Hungary, 14.1.2013 16:42, (ROMEA - UPDATED) Several hundred supporters of the opposition in Hungary demonstrated yesterday against racist statements made about the Romani minority by a co-founder of the conservative governing party Fidesz in front of the party's headquarters in Budapest. The protest was organized by the Democratic Coalition group of former socialist PM Ferenc Gyurcsányi.  full story

Former EU Commissioner's Facebook page hacked to send antisemitic posts about Czech presidential candidates

Prague, 14.1.2013 16:04, (ROMEA) The role of social networking sites and the internet has become a topic of discussion in the Czech Republic 14 days prior to the second round of voting in the presidential elections there. The significant electoral success of Karel Schwarzenberg in the first round is said to have been largely due to his online presence.  full story

Czech Republic: Zeman wins first round in some Romani neighborhoods

Chanov/Prague, 14.1.2013 1:08, (ROMEA) In the historically first direct election of the president in the Czech Republic, candidate Miloš Zeman won most of the votes cast at the Chanov housing estate in the town of Most. Voter turnout was extremely low, with only 59 voters casting ballots, a mere 6.43 % of those eligible.  full story

videoGermany: Thousands prevent neo-Nazi march through center of Magdeburg

Magdeburg, Germany, 12.1.2013 23:59, (ROMEA) Thousands of citizens in the German town of Magdeburg prevented a neo-Nazi march through the center of town today. Approximately 800 neo-Nazis carrying black flags had to settle for marching through the Salbke quarter on the town's southern border.  full story

Schwarzenberg and Zeman face off in Czech presidential vote

Prague, 12.1.2013 19:34, (ROMEA) The next Czech president will either be former prime minister Miloš Zeman (of the Strana práv občanů ZEMANOVCI - the Citizen's Rights Party for Zeman, or SPOZ), or the chair of the TOP 09 party, current Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. Not all of the votes cast during the first round of the direct election have been counted, but no one else will be able to earn as many as would be needed to end up in first or second place.  full story

OSCE election monitor team focuses on Romani participation in Czech vote

Prague, 12.1.2013 2:59, (ROMEA) Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are following the historically first direct election of the president in the Czech Republic. Deputy Head of Mission Goran Petrov of Macedonia told the Czech Press Agency that the direct presidential election is interesting to the observers, who were invited by the Czech authorities.  full story

The sterilization of Roma women: a serious threat to the fundaments of a democratic society

Bucharest, Romania, 11.1.2013 13:34, (ROMEA) The Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies – Romani CRISS, MCA Romania – The Center for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism in Romania and the National Institute for Holocaust Studies “Elie Wiesel” strongly condemn the extremist manifestation of an extremist group in Timisoara, recently published on the blog.  full story

Czech ministers criticize public tv for allegedly racist reporting on amnesty

Prague, 10.1.2013 17:16, (ROMEA) Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats - ODS) says that most of his cabinet ministers have criticized the allegedly racist way in which Czech Television has reported on the prisoners released by the recent amnesty. The PM says Czech Culture Minister Alena Hanáková is considering filing a complaint with the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání - RRTV), but Daniela Němcová, Czech Television's Director of Communications, rejects the charges of racism.  full story