Commentary

Commentary: Romani children in the Czech schools

1.11.2016 7:35 News server Romea.cz published a news item several days ago about the Czech Education Ministry tracking the number of Romani and socially disadvantaged children currently being educated using the "Framework Education Program for Pupils with Mild Mental Disability". That particular curriculum has been used up until now in the "practical" primary schools.  full story

Miroslav Klempár: The value of a Romani life versus social norms

27.10.2016 9:52 What is the value of a human life? What is the life of a drug addict, a homosexual, a prostitute, a thief - or of a corrupt politician - worth?  full story

Pavel Botoš: After the events in Žatec I will never return to the Czech Republic

24.10.2016 17:52 Not long ago I decided not to comment about some of the events that have been taking place in the Czech Republic anymore. I decided this because I have been living with my family abroad for a long time and some of the information that reaches me can be significantly biased.  full story

Jan Horvát: Romani people must unite over the death in Žatec. We can't ignore it!

24.10.2016 16:42 I, too, am following the situation around the death of our Romani brother - it is cruel and horrible. I haven't written anything for a long time, but like the rest of you, I cannot remain calm after this incident.  full story

Denisa Havrľová: We must all protest together, nobody has the right to take somebody else's life!

23.10.2016 22:07 Life is the most valuable thing our parents ever give us, and every parent loves his or her children selflessly and unconditionally. Not being a mother myself, I don't know to what degree I can really understand the feelings and sorrow of the parents of Miroslov Demeter, who has died so young.  full story

Miroslav Kováč on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: Latent institutional racism, lack of respect for human life

23.10.2016 18:29 In recent days I have been swamped by the various reactions that have contributed different perspectives on the death of the 27-year-old Romani father of two that occurred as a result of the incident at the pizzeria in Žatec under circumstances that have yet to be explained. On that fateful Tuesday evening, Miroslav entered the local pizzeria and caused a stir.  full story

Radim Kupec on the death of Romani man in Žatec: The essence of equality is justice

23.10.2016 15:30 With respect to the events of Tuesday, when a young Romani man, Miroslav Demeter, died, many articles have already written and many questions asked that have not yet found their answers. Here I will try not to repeat what has been said by the others who have not been afraid to openly write their opinions about this issue.  full story

Gejza Horváth cancels appearance at Roma Spirit award over death of a Romani man in Žatec

22.10.2016 14:27 Today Gejza Horváth wrote the following open letter and published it to his personal Facebook profile.  full story

Renáta Kováčová on the death of the Romani man in Žatec: Exonerating autopsy results impossible to believe

22.10.2016 11:37 My head is still spinning from the idea that somebody can walk into a pizzeria alive, never to leave again. I am not afraid to say that I was also quite frightened and puzzled by the initial autopsy results according to which that young man died without any third-party involvement.  full story

Tomáš Ščuka on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: We do not support antigypsyism and we insist on objectivity!

22.10.2016 10:59 In recent days, most of us been paying increasing attention to the sad incident in Žatec in which a 27-year-old man died after a scuffle in a local restaurant. To be honest, any such incident involving the unfortunate loss of human life makes me emotional and sad, especially when somebody young loses their life.  full story

Lucie Oračková on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: Czech Police are not protecting us

22.10.2016 9:40 Many people are outraged by the recent death of a young Romani man at a pizzeria in Žatec. Basically this is not about whether the person who died was Romani, Vietnamese or from the North Pole.  full story

Michal Miko on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: What next?

21.10.2016 19:42 Since yesterday evening I have not been able to sleep because of the situation that happened in Žatec this Tuesday. Was that act the beginning of something deeper in this society?  full story

Stanislava Ondová: I'm beginning to no longer feel safe in our Czech Republic

21.10.2016 14:01 We probably all know by now that a young father of two children has died in Žatec under very strange circumstances. According to the Czech Police, nobody is to blame for his death even though video footage recorded by a customer at the restaurant where the incident took place appears to show something else.  full story

Patrik Banga: Dear Czech Police, 27-year-olds do not just up and die

21.10.2016 12:11 Three days ago, somebody died in the town of Žatec under circumstances that are basically absolutely unclear. According to one version of what happened, the man assaulted customers in a restaurant and local police intervened against him.  full story

Commentary: Informing on the "Gypsies"

13.10.2016 10:38 On 11 October, František Ryba, chair of the Krušnohor Apartment Construction Cooperative, sent a message to the inhabitants of the town of Most through a spokesperson that they should begin informing the authorities about "Gypsies and inadaptables" if such people are bothering them as their neighbors. Ryba has traditionally always been harsh in his public statements - he does not pull his punches, insults people, and is not afraid to make racist attacks on Romani people.  full story

Commentary: In a country with almost no refugees, why are they feared?

9.10.2016 19:32 "In two towns in the east of Germany on Friday evening small groups of local residents clashed with asylum-seekers. The scuffles resulted in four people suffering slight injuries," the Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Saturday, 1 October.  full story

Commentary: Czechs realize "anti-Gypsy" law - stricter than during totalitarian rule - applies to them too

9.10.2016 18:20 As of 1 October an amendment to the law on misdemeanors has taken effect in the Czech Republic. Each municipality will now have to publish a decree listing the kind of behavior that qualifies as disrupting nighttime quiet.  full story

Commentary: Monothematic parties lose, but carefully-expressed bigotry wins votes in the Czech Republic

9.10.2016 17:11 Of the anti-Romani or extremist-oriented parties that ran during the regional and Senate elections this weekend, the Freedom and Direct Democracy group (Svoboda a přímá demokracie - SPD), founded by Tomio Okamura, scored the biggest success, mostly by running in coalition with the Citizens' Rights Party (SPO), which is connected to Czech President Zeman. Bigoted candidates such as Jaroslav Doubrava and Liana Janáčková made it to the second round of the Senate elections, and Jiří Čunek, running for the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) scored a significant success in the Zlín Region.  full story

Commentary: Czech Regional and Senate elections - Roma didn't vote, Romani candidates didn't win

9.10.2016 14:15 The outcome of this weekend's elections to regional assemblies and to one-third of the Czech Senate in localities where a greater number of Romani people live did not demonstrate any significant voter preferences - rather, what was typical of those localities was a very low voter turnout. Romani candidates were not elected anywhere.  full story

Analysis: Why the National Resistance members should be tried - 10 years of a failed hunt for hardcore neo-Nazis in the Czech Republic

8.10.2016 12:20 Two weeks ago, the latest round of the court proceedings against eight defendants charged with conspiracy and rioting with the aim of promoting Nazism in the Czech Republic began. According to the indictment, the defendants are the former hard core of an unregistered group called the "National Resistance" (Národní odpor - NO).  full story