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Czech electorate chooses Miloš Zeman as the next president

Prague, 26.1.2013 19:48, (ROMEA) Miloš Zeman has been chosen by popular vote to become the next president of the Czech Republic. All votes have been counted.  full story

Czech Senator warns against hatred, racism, nationalism, xenophobia

Prague, 25.1.2013 17:14, (ROMEA) Speaking today at a gathering in the Czech Senate to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Senate Vice-Chair Alena Gajdůšková (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) said, "The greatest denial of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust victims would be if people were to allow a similar tragedy to repeat itself anywhere in the world. It would be an insult to the victims of the Shoah to allow antisemitic opinions and statements to be presented publicly without responding to them appropriately."  full story

Roma Education in 2013: Time for Europe to Remedy its Democratic Deficit

Budapest, 25.1.2013 10:35, (ROMEA) 2013 is the European Year of Citizens, dedicated to the rights that come with EU citizenship. The European Commission wants to know what kind of Europe citizens want to see in 2020. While the focus is on EU citizens “in cross-border situations,” there are basic fundamental human rights issues that need to be addressed within Member States, issues more pressing than the cheaper roaming charges and easier online shopping celebrated by Commissioner Reding.  full story

NGOs call for advertising boycott over anti-Roma statements in Hungarian media

Budapest, 25.1.2013 10:26, (ROMEA) The ERRC is joining with a coalition of Hungarian NGOs in asking domestic companies and Hungarian divisions of multinationals to take a stand against racist commentary in Hungary. The NGOs are asking, among others, Vodafone, T-Com, FedEx, IKEA and Procter and Gamble to reconsider advertising in a Hungarian newspaper which published an article talking about Romani people in unacceptably racist and prejudiced language.  full story

Jarmila Balážová: I will vote for Karel Schwarzenberg

Prague, 24.1.2013 17:14, (ROMEA) It has been interesting to see what the first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic has unleashed and shown us. Even though some of this all could have been predicted, I really did not expect some of the responses I have seen, just as I did not expect certain people active in cultural and public life to back the candidates they are now backing.  full story

"Housing for All" to protest evictions at Czech Labor Ministry

Ústí nad Labem, 24.1.2013 16:26, (ROMEA) A new initiative called Housing for All (Bydlení pro všechny) is responding to the ongoing scandal in Ústí nad Labem, where people who once lived in a building that became unfit for habitation because the landlord let it deteriorate are now unable to find any normal, permanent housing. In the Předlice neighborhood, where the building in question is located, almost 30 other apartment buildings are also considered unsafe by structural engineers. The risk, therefore, is that more people will be evicted in future through no fault of their own - and no one knows where they will go.  full story

Germany: TV discussion Sinti and Roma a concept of enemy: are we too intolerant?

Germany, 24.1.2013 14:11, (ROMEA) 58 Percent say that they do not want Sinti and Roma as neighbors. Where do those prejudices come from? Are the Germans to intolerant? There is an increase in incoming Sinti and Roma from new and future European states. It is without controversy that in their countries the Sinti and Roma live under horrible conditions and in penury. But the public fight started, not just in politics, if Germany can and should accommodate them. This public interest was the reason why they brought up the topic “Sinti and Roma a concept of enemy: are we too intolerant?” in the TV discussion round “Menschen bei Maischberger” on the 20th of November in 2012.  full story

Britain: Roma children are Britain’s hidden care problem

Rotherham, Britain, 24.1.2013 10:11, (ROMEA) “I’ve seen the news and read the stories on the internet. They’ve made me worry about my children,” says Jonas, father of four and a Roma immigrant form Czech Republic, now living in Rotherham. “They think we're stupid and can't take care of ourselves... if social services knock at my door, I won't let them in. "It's because we're Roma. We can't speak English; we're an easy target," adds his wife Yvetta. The distrust between Rotherham's Roma community and social services has grown in recent years - as has the city's Roma community.  full story

Czech extremists across the board want Zeman for president

Prague, 23.1.2013 17:28, (ROMEA) Both left and right-wing extremists have expressed their support for candidate Miloš Zeman in the upcoming presidential election. The ultra-left Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Komunistická strana Československa - KSČ), led by the pre-1989 communist boss Miroslav Štěpán, has given Zeman its backing. At a party congress this past weekend, the leader of the ultra-right extremist Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS), Tomáš Vandas, expressed his support for Zeman as well.  full story

Zeman says he would not meet with the Dalai Lama if elected Czech President

Prague, 23.1.2013 16:29, (ROMEA) Speaking during a debate organized by the European Values (Evropské hodnoty) think-tank devoted primarily to foreign policy, presidential candidate Miloš Zeman (Strana práv občanů ZEMANOVCI - the Citizen's Rights Party for Zeman) said that if elected president of the Czech Republic he would refuse to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama - unless the Dalai Lama was visiting in the capacity of a big investor. Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09), who will be Zeman's opponent during the second round of presidential elections, did not participate in the discussion, reportedly for lack of time.  full story

Czech Women's Lobby wants Zeman to apologize for remarks about rape

23.1.2013 15:59, (ROMEA) The Czech Women's Lobby (Česká ženská lobby) wants presidential candidate Miloš Zeman to apologize for his recent remarks about rape as an evolutionary advantage. Zeman launched his bonmot during a televised debate last Friday when explaining to his opponent, the aristocrat Karel Schwarzenberg, why the nobility has degenerated. According to the Czech Women's Lobby, whose director, Jana Smiggels Kavková, has sent an open letter to Zeman, such remarks are insulting to all women.  full story

Civic initiatives ask senators to sue Czech president for treason over amnesty

Prague, 23.1.2013 15:27, (ROMEA) Businessman Karel Janeček, who describes himself as fighting corruption, has sent the members of the Czech Senate an appeal demanding that they discuss bringing a constitutional complaint against Czech President Klaus for treason as per Article 65 of the Constitution in connection with the prisoner amnesty he announced earlier this month. The appeal has been signed by 17 organizations including Public against Corruption (Veřejnost proti korupci) and Democracy Inventory (Inventura demokracie).  full story

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