World

Slovak Interior Ministry says police raid on Romani settlement was correct, victims appeal to Constitutional Court

8.8.2016 16:53 News server Romovia.SME.sk reports that the Slovak Interior Ministry's Inspection Authority has halted the prosecution of the police officers involved in a raid on a Romani settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou in the summer of 2013. Romani residents of the settlement have now turned to the Constitutional Court with their complaint about the raid.
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Spain: 80 years since the martyrdom of Cefferino Gimenéz Malla

8.8.2016 14:51 Tomorrow, 9 August, marks 80 years since the martyrdom of the first Romani person ever to be beatified, Cefferino Gimenéz Malla, also known as "El Pelé" ("the brave one"). Let's review what is known about the unusual life of this unique figure.  full story

Europe: Anti-refugee initiatives spreading lies about German justice system after Munich shooting

8.8.2016 13:07 Yet another manipulation of the facts is making the rounds online, this time about the attack perpetrated on 22 July in Munich, Germany. Ali David Sonboly, a racist supporter of the ultra-right, murdered nine people during a shooting spree on that day.  full story

Belgium: Machete-wielding attacker harms two policewomen, so-called Islamic State claims responsibility

8.8.2016 8:46 A man wielding a machete injured two policewomen on Saturday in the Belgium town of Charleroi. Another member of the police force shot the attacker at the scene and the man later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.  full story

Czech-language online hoax alleging Prague terrorist attack now spreading among Slovaks and stealing Facebook passwords

7.8.2016 11:28 A fake news item has begun to spread in Slovakia among users of the Facebook social networking site alleging that a terrorist attack has taken place in Prague. Its actual purpose is to access the login data to people's Facebook accounts.  full story

France: Black youth dies in police custody, sparking riot, media wrongly attributes violence to Islamism

7.8.2016 9:38 Last week a street gang set a public bus on fire in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Some international media, as well as anti-Islamic websites in the Czech Republic, ascribed the attack to Islamist radicals and alleged that the youths shouted "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is great!") during the attack.  full story

Slovak accommodation facility refuses students from Turkey, Foreign Ministry says that is discriminatory

5.8.2016 14:57 An accommodation facility in Bratislava recently refused to accommodate students from Turkey and is being criticized by both the Slovak Foreign Ministry and the
Turkish Embassy. The facility owners said that for safety reasons they do not accommodate "people from Turkey and Arab countries".  full story

videoIN IMAGES: Romani people from all over Europe commemorate the Romani victims of the Holocaust

5.8.2016 11:52 Romani people from all over Europe commemorated the victims of Nazi murder on the occasion of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. From 2 August to 3 August 1944, the Nazis murdered 2 898 Roma and Sinti in the gas chambers of the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Other Roma were murdered at the concentration camps in Bełżec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibór and Treblinka. Others, whose numbers are difficult to estimate, were shot dead and buried in mass graves in the forests.  full story

Germany to compensate Roma survivors of the Holocaust now in the Czech Republic

5.8.2016 11:18 After years of negotiations between the Czech Republic and Germany, a breakthrough decision has now been made. Germany will compensate Czech Roma for the suffering
caused by their internment in German concentration camps during the Second World War.  full story

Czech President rejects all migrants, EU Commissioner says he is mocking the law

5.8.2016 9:28 Czech President Miloš Zeman believes the question of refugee reception needs to be discussed by the Czech Parliament. His spokesperson, Jiří Ovčáček, said earlier this week that the President absolutely disagrees with refugee reception.  full story

Romany Holocaust victims remembered at Auschwitz

3.8.2016 13:23 August 2, 2016 marks the 72nd anniversary of the nearly 3,000 Roma men, women, and children murdered at Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland.
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Council of Europe honours victims and survivors of Roma Holocaust

2.8.2016 22:09 The Council of Europe honoured the memory of Roma Holocaust victims and survivors with commemorations at the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and at the Organisation’s Strasbourg headquarters.  full story

EU Commissioners on Roma Holocaust Memorial Day: Too many Roma are victims of hate crime in Europe

2.8.2016 14:44 News server NewEurope.eu reports that First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Věra Jourová have issued a joint statement on the occasion of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. The statement recalls that on the night of 2 to 3 August 1944, around 3 000 Roma men, women and children from the "Gypsy family camp" of Auschwitz-Birkenau were murdered in the gas chambers.  full story

International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and ODIHR issue joint statement on need to ensure dignity for Roma Holocaust remembrance

2.8.2016 14:13 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), called today for greater efforts to protect endangered memorial sites related to the Roma and Sinti genocide during World War II. Speaking on the occasion of the commemoration of the liquidation of the “Gypsy family camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, when almost 3 000 Roma and Sinti in the camp were murdered, they stressed that states have to do more to demonstrate their sincere and strong commitment to education about and remembrance of the genocide.  full story

International Organization for Migration data shows how biased reporting is about migrants in Europe

1.8.2016 17:35 Because the flood of (mainly negative) reporting about the so-called refugee crisis in the Czech Republic can make it seem like we are living at a time of unprecedented migration and that Europe is at risk of an exodus from the rest of the world onto its territory, it is worth taking a look at the data and statistics that are available about this phenomenon. A closer look at the numbers on migration to the Czech Republic, to Europe, and around the globe not only refutes many myths, it introduces some surprising findings.  full story

German Chancellor still believes her country can handle the impacts of attacks and immigration

30.7.2016 16:09 German Chancellor Angela Merkel remains convinced that Germany can deal with the impacts of the current terrorist attacks and of immigration. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, she promised that Berlin will do all it can to apprehend the people responsible for last week's attacks.  full story

Czech Radio: Political scientist says Europe is not the epicenter of political violence, but anti-Muslim hate is spreading there

30.7.2016 11:27 Tuesday's "Interview Plus" program on Czech Radio focused on the question of the ongoing terrorist attacks in Europe. Ondřej Ditrych, a political scientist at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague and the Institute of International Relations, discussed the impact of how the media reports such events and whether a growth in violence is actually happening in Europe that should give us reason to panic.  full story

German Police in Lower Saxony raid Islamist radicals

29.7.2016 15:35 Police in Lower Saxony, Germany, have conducted extensive raids against so-called Salafists who profess a radical form of Islam. The action targeted the association of the German-language Islamic Circle (DIK).  full story

German Police say Munich shooter was an ultra-right supporter proud of sharing a birthdate with Hitler

29.7.2016 8:47 Yesterday the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said sources close to the investigation of the shooting in Munich one week ago said the shooter who murdered nine people before committing suicide was a racist and supporter of the ultra-right. During his rampage near the Olympia shopping center, the attacker chose his victims from among those who he believed were immigrants, according to police sources.  full story

USA: Controversy over conservative radio host's Nazi-like salute at the close of her RNC speech

28.7.2016 22:29 Jeremy Stahl, a senior editor at the website Slate.com, has re-posted photographs tweeted from last week's Republican National Convention in Ohio. In the photos, the talk radio host Laura Ingraham is shown raising and straightening her right arm in profile toward the very large screen from which candidate Donald Trump was remotely addressing the convention.  full story