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Czech Republic: Owner offers Přednádraží properties to town of Ostrava

Ostrava, 23.5.2013 5:45, (ROMEA) Yesterday the owner of the ill-fated properties on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava, Oldřich Roztočil, sent an open letter to Mayor Petr Kajnar (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) offering to sell his real estate in the locality to the town and asking for a meeting. The mayor says he is not opposed to meeting with the landlord.  full story

Czech Republic: Sentencing in the street brawl that sparked 2011 unrest

Děčín, 22.5.2013 6:58, (ROMEA) Yesterday a court in Děčín handed down suspended sentences against four youths involved in the August 2011 street brawl in Rumburk that launched unrest in the Šluknov foothills. Three juveniles received sentences of between seven and eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months.  full story

Czech Republic: Platform for Social Housing says society needs homes

Ostrava, 21.5.2013 23:22, (ROMEA) The creation of a Platform for Social Housing was announced today on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava. The Platform brings together experts, nonprofit organizations and the public with the aim of defining social housing and introducing it in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech Republic: Crossbow shooter claims death was accidental

Ostrava, 21.5.2013 6:52, (ROMEA) Jaromír Šebesta, the 39-year-old man who shot a crossbow at a person he believed was a burglar in the village of Chotěbuz (Karvina district) in April 2012, went on trial yesterday before the Regional Court in Ostrava. He is charged with bodily harm resulting in death.  full story

Czech Republic: Compensation for illegally sterilized women in negotiation

Prague, 20.5.2013 12:38, (ROMEA) Last week the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner participated in a round table to review the options for compensating women who have been illegally sterilized. The meeting was convened by the Czech Helsinki Committee and chaired by its past president, Anna Šabatová.  full story

Germans, Turks use trial of neo-Nazi Zschäpe to get their messages across

Germany, 20.5.2013 7:04, (ROMEA) Czech Radio reports that the first two days of the trial of neo-Nazi Beate Zschäpe, which started last week, have been accompanied by displays of emotion. Various people have been using the event to get their own messages across to the public.  full story

Czech Govt Human Rights Commissioner: The term “inadaptable” deprives Roma of their humanity

Lety u Písku, 19.5.2013 12:00, (ROMEA) Dear survivors, dear ladies and gentlemen,  full story

Czech Republic: Romani woman files charges against neighbor for slander

Ústí nad Labem, 18.5.2013 9:35, (ROMEA) The regional daily Ústecký deník has used the term “war” in its reporting about an incident last weekend in the Krásné Březno neighborhood of Ústí nad Labem. Police are now investigating.  full story

Greece: Neo-Nazi MP ejected from parliament amid shouts of “Heil Hitler”

Athens, Greece, 18.5.2013 8:40, (ROMEA) Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that a great sensation was caused in Greece this past week when an MP from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group was ejected from a session of parliament amid shouts of the Nazi greeting “Heil Hitler”. The session chair ejected the Golden Dawn legislator after he insulted the leader of the left-wing SYRIZA coalition, Alexis Tsipras.  full story

Czech Republic: Roma ghettos have CCTV systems but no playgrounds

Lety u Písku, 17.5.2013 19:45, (ROMEA) Dear survivors, my dear Roma, activist friends, ladies and gentlemen,  full story

Czech organizers cancel wrestling match featuring Hitler-tattooed neo-Nazi in response to protests

Prague, 17.5.2013 18:31, (ROMEA) Organizers have cancelled a match featuring the Hungarian neo-Nazi Attila Petrovszki that was supposed to be part of a martial arts tournament Friday, 17 May at the Sparta Arena in Prague. During the course of Thursday, 16 May, more and more people protested his participation, with the City of Prague, Czech Television, and the Pražská energetika (PRE) electric company all distancing themselves from the tournament.  full story

Růžička: Xenophobia against Romani children rising among Czech students

Lety u Písku, 15.5.2013 11:12, (ROMEA) Your Eminence, Dear Guests,  full story

Czech court initiates distraint against Přednádraží landlord, auction may result

Ostrava, 15.5.2013 7:04, (ROMEA) A court has initiated distraint against Domy Přednádraží, s.r.o., the firm that owns properties in the ghetto on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava. The decision was made at the request of Ostrava Waterworks and Sewerage (Ostravské vodárny a kanalizace - OVAK), which is owed several hundreds of thousands of crowns by the firm.  full story

Germany, other northern states want to ban “welfare tourism” by Romani people

Germany, 14.5.2013 8:15, (ROMEA) In the wealthy countries of northern Europe, especially in Germany, which will see elections to the Bundestag this fall, the expression “immigration of poverty” is now being used quite frequently. Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) reports that the immigrants at issue are specifically Romani people from the Balkans who settle in urban areas, reportedly burdening them with demands for social services and in some cases with crime.  full story

Czech Republic: Preparatory committee for new Romani Democratic Party meets

Prague, 14.5.2013 6:59, (ROMEA) The Mediafax agency reports that Romani people in the Czech Republic are preparing to establish a new political party, the Romani Democratic Party (Romská demokratická strana – RDS). Miroslav Tancoš, the head of the party’s preparatory committee, said the group met in Prague on 11 May 2013 and intends to register with the Czech Interior Ministry this week.  full story

Cardinal Duka leads prayers for Romani victims of Lety

Lety u Písku, 13.5.2013 23:15, (ROMEA) Cardinal Dominik Duka and approximately 100 other people commemorated the Romani victims of Nazism today at Lety by Písek. US Ambassador Norman Eisen, Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí) chair Štefan Tišer, Miroslav Kováč of the FORUM association, Green Party (Strana Zelených) chair Ondřej Liška, Czech Pirate Party (Česká pirátská strana) chair Ivan Bartoš, and activists Imrich Horvát of Ostrava, Ivanka Mariposa Čonková and Ondřej Slačálek of Prague, Míra Brož of Ústí nad Labem, and Emil Voráč of the Khamoro association in Chodov all paid their respects to the memory of the Romani people who perished during the Second World War in the concentration camp at Lety.  full story

videoThree Gypsy Jazz concerts will be performed at the 15th Khamoro Festival

Praha, 13.5.2013 11:14, (ROMEA) The 15th jubilee year of the World Roma Festival Khamoro will start in the end of May in Prague. The NGO Slovo 21 and Studio Production Saga have been organizing the festival since 1999. This year Khamoro is held under the patronage of Prime Minister Petr Necas and Mayor of the City of Prague Bohuslav Svoboda.  full story

Czech Interior Ministry: Extremists have won over new patrons online

Prague, 12.5.2013 16:27, (ROMEA) A Czech Interior Ministry report about extremism in the country last year will be reviewed by the Government this coming Wednesday. According to the report, Czech extremists shifted their activities more to the internet in 2012.  full story

Budapest: Three neo-Nazis who assaulted WJC delegates sentenced

Budapest, Hungary, 11.5.2013 16:40, (ROMEA) The World Jewish Congress (WJC) as warned that anti-Semitism could grow in Europe as a result of the exacerbated economic crisis. A report released at the end of the three-day general assembly in Budapest warns that politicians have a tendency to dedicate less attention to this issue during times of economic hardship.  full story

New York Times visits previously segregated school in Slovakia

New York City/Šarišské Michaľany, 10.5.2013 19:01, (ROMEA) "A microcosm of one of the biggest problems in Europe" - those are the words used on the front page of The New York Times to describe a primary school in Šarišské Michaľany, Slovakia. A reporter for the prestigious US newspaper traveled to eastern Slovakia to report on the segregation of Romani children there. Last year a court in Prešov ruled against a local segregated school.  full story