Czech Republic

Czech Police charge Romani youth with threatening to burn down pizzeria where another Romani man died in October

1.12.2016 7:45 A 19-year-old Romani man has been accused of using his personal Facebook profile to make threats against the employees of the Panamera Pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec, saying he would burn the business down after another young Romani man died there in mid-October following a scuffle with other customers and a police intervention. The man who made the threats is in custody and faces prison time if convicted.  full story

Outgoing Czech Human Rights Minister claims successes

1.12.2016 7:21 The adoption of Government strategies on equality of women and men or on social inclusion, enforcement of measures against corruption, and the publicizing of planned legislation are all considered successes by outgoing Czech Minister for Human Rights and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD). He told the Czech News Agency that he believes his successor must see through the adoption of the amendment to expand the ombudsman's powers and the negotiations to buy the pig farm located on the site of a former concentration camp for Romani people in Lety before next year's elections.  full story

Romani celebrity faces racist comments, death threats from fans of xenophobic band Ortel

29.11.2016 15:21 Radek Banga, the lead singer for the band Gipsy.cz, is facing racist commentaries and threats from fans of the xenophobic music group Ortel after publishing a statement about the results of the Czech Nightingale (Český Slavík) 2016 audience poll. The disinformation and right-wing extremist news servers in the Czech Republic have also begun to wage a campaign against him.  full story

Czech Republic: More musicians criticize popularity of xenophobic band

28.11.2016 16:01 Criticism of the Czech Nightingale (Český slavík) popular music survey has begun to increase after the xenophobic band Ortel came in second place. Romani musician Radek Banga, whose stage name is Gipsy, is being joined by other performers who are criticizing the results of the survey.  full story

Radoslav Banga: I walked out of the Czech music awards because Nazism does not belong in public life

28.11.2016 7:58 On Saturday night I left the hall of the theater in Karlín very, very indignantly. Yes, it's true, my wife and I got up during the "Czech Nightingale" awards ceremony, began to whistle, and then left to protest against the award won by the band Ortel.  full story

Romani women gather in Czech capital to discuss how their position has changed during the last 50 years

28.11.2016 6:59 More than 60 Romani women from all over the Czech Republic will gather today in the Hotel Amarilis in Prague for a conference of the JILEHA 2016 project, which is run by the Manushe Romani women's group. "These women are aiding other women to come out from the shadows, to overcome the obstacles in their lives and to improve the way they view themselves. Women's solidarity is the motor of the entire project, which supports the initiative of these extraordinary ordinary women and makes it possible for them to contribute to changing the lives of those around them," said project coordinator Martina Horváthová.  full story

Romani celebrity walks out in protest after neo-Nazi singer and his band win second place in Czech music awards

28.11.2016 6:16 The results of the "Czech Nightingale" (Český slavík) audience appreciation poll were announced Saturday night in a live broadcast from the Karlín Musical Theater in Prague. Tomáš Ortel of the xenophobic band Ortel won two "silver nightingales", the second-place award in two categories..  full story

Tabloid interview with son of former Czech President about inclusive education features untruths

26.11.2016 10:10 The Czech tabloid Blesk has published an interview with Václav Klaus, Jr., the son of the former Czech President who was once the principal of a private high school in Prague, featuring the headline "Inclusion is a crime against disabled children". Tomáš Hečko, who is the parent of a child with Down Sydrome and a media professional, has reviewed the piece.  full story

Czech xenophobic band Ortel nominated by public again for music award

26.11.2016 9:12 The award associated with the Czech Republic's popular music poll, the "Czech Nightingale" (Český slavík), sponsored by Czech mineral water company Mattoni, will announce its results on live television today, Saturday, 26 November, in Prague. The surprise entry in this year's poll was the nomination of singer Joakim Brodén of the Swedish power metal band Sabaton.  full story

Leading Romani activist Ágnes Daróczi to appear in Prague Monday

26.11.2016 7:54 As part of a festival called "RomAcademy: Days of Living Romanes", which is dedicated to making the Romanes language visible in the public space, the eminent Hungarian Romani activist Ágnes Daróczi will appear in Prague. This important promoter of the European Romani movement will participate in a panel debate on "Romanes as a creative language", which will take place on 28 November at 15:30 in the small hall of the Minor Theater in Prague.  full story

Former Czech Human Rights Minister: PM is abandoning the fight against poverty

25.11.2016 19:05 Czech Television has focused very carefully and in detail on the past eight years of efforts to achieve social inclusion in the Czech Republic in a recent installment of its 90' program. Together with the current director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, Radek Jiránek, I was briefly involved in the program's very cultivated, expert debate of this issue, but as I was traveling back home, I was overcome by the concern that the time for this kind of effective, substantive policy for the fight against poverty, which actually will save our money and that of future generations, has already passed.  full story

Czech NGO offers course on including Romani children in education

25.11.2016 17:36 From 6-7 December the final opportunity will happen this year to attend a course for educators and other educational staff members who want to better understand Romani children. The accredited course, offered by the R-Mosty NGO, is free of charge thanks to support from the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.  full story

Czech politician alleges he has resolved the issue of "inadaptable Gypsies", Faktus says the facts show otherwise

24.11.2016 9:22 He's a mayor, a Senator, and now he has been elected Regional Governor. Jiří Čunek really knows politics.  full story

Incoming Czech Human Rights Minister meets with Czech President, says human rights belong to everybody

23.11.2016 19:25 Incoming Czech Minister for Human Rights and Legislation Jan Chvojka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) met with Czech President Miloš Zeman at Prague Castle yesterday. The two officials debated human rights and an amendment to the law on conflict of interest that includes sections being referred to as the "Lex Babiš" after the current Czech Finance Minister.  full story

Czech Republic: Museum of Romani Culture to commemorate ROMFEST 1990 and award its own 2016 prize

23.11.2016 7:00 The Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, Czech Republic invites the public to its commemorative evening dedicated to a key event in Romani culture, the ROMFEST 1990 festival, which was held 26 years ago. "We want to remind people of this event through an evening of musical witness for the public at large, an event that will take place on 24 November at 18:00 at the KS Omega - Musilka cultural center in Brno-Husovice," Sabina Coufalová of the Museum of Romani Culture told news server Romea.cz.  full story

Czech celebration of Veterans' Day featured honor guard in SS uniform and speech calling for opponents of President to hang themselves

22.11.2016 18:08 News server Lidovky.cz reports that a commemorative event on Veterans' Day, 11 November, was held by the Club of Military History in the Czech town of Rakovník and was marked by two controversial incidents. Those who attended the reverent gathering were outraged by the presence of a man wearing a Nazi uniform of the SS and serving as an honor guard next to the memorial to the Czechoslovak pilots from Rakovník who served in the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom during the Second World War.  full story

Responding to refusals from nominees, Czech foundation says Roma Spirit prize is from the public, not the state

22.11.2016 7:26 The Michael Kocáb Foundation has issued a statement reminding the community and the country that the Roma Spirit Award is a public prize expressing respect for the work of specific individuals that contributes to good coexistence between Romani people and other inhabitants of the Czech Republic. "The rejection of such public acknowledgment is problematic for many reasons. If the reason nominees do not want to participate and receive the award is their dissatisfaction with the political situation in the Czech Republic, we would like to point out that the Roma Spirit prize does not bear responsibility for the situation and that such a gesture will most probably be welcomed only by those who speak out against minorities," reads a statement issued yesterday by the foundation.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani entrepreneur employs almost all Romani workers in cafeteria

21.11.2016 7:22 A cafeteria that is staffed almost exclusively by Romani workers opened two weeks ago in the Czech town of Trmice (Ústecký Region). Romani entrepreneur Martin Bajger is running it and plans to expand its services.  full story

videoRomea.cz recovers mobile phone video of Czech Police procedure against Romani driver, case being reviewed by oversight board

20.11.2016 10:24 News server Romea.cz published the mobile phone video yesterday of an incident between a police officer and a Romani driver during a traffic stop at the beginning of November on the Máj housing estate in the town of České Budějovice after which the driver had to seek medical attention and was hospitalized with a bruised neck and suspected concussion. The driver had been attempting to film one of the officers involved in the traffic stop using his mobile phone, but the officer physically prevented him from doing so, took the phone away, erased the recording and smashed the phone itself.  full story

Right-wing extremists supporting Czech President blocked from marching through Prague's Jewish Town on 17 November

18.11.2016 21:14 On Thursday, 17 November 2016 a demonstration in support of Czech President Miloš Zeman was attended by roughly 400 people. Shortly after a musical performance by Tomáš Hnídek Ortel, a former member of the neo-Nazi group Conflict 88, the demonstration was officially ended.  full story