Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Seven-year anniversary of neo-Nazi arson attack on Romani family home in Vítkov

19.4.2016 12:09 Seven years ago, during the late night hours of 18 April and the early morning hours of 19 April 2009, four neo-Nazis threw Molotov cocktails into a single-family home in the town of Vítkov (Opava district), where a Romani family was living. During the subsequent blaze three people were injured, including the family's youngest daughter, Natálka, who suffered burns over 80 % of her body before she was even two years old.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani ice hockey player Dominik Lakatoš is rookie of the year

18.4.2016 8:02 Dominik Lakatoš, a talented ice hockey player for Liberec, has been designated rookie of the year by Czech Television's annual "Hockey Player of the Season" survey. Robert Záruba announced the news during half-time of the final match of the ice hockey championship between Liberec and Sparta on 14 April and the awards ceremony will take place on 2 May.  full story

Czech Republic: Handful of neo-Nazis demonstrate in Vítkov to raise money for racist arsonists who attacked Romani family there

17.4.2016 9:50 Just a few neo-Nazis assembled yesterday at a demonstration in the Czech town of Vítkov, where seven years ago during the late night hours of 18 April and the early morning hours of 19 April an arson attack was committed on a home occupied by a Romani family. The neo-Nazis originally invited the public to the assembly by saying they wanted to support the racist arsonists who had committed that particular attack.  full story

Adriana Trejtnarová: Inclusive education must include everything

15.4.2016 20:30 Inclusive education? Yes, but it must include everything and naturally it must benefit the child, as that is what we are after.  full story

Czech Police arrest 16 Iraqi refugees who want to leave the country

15.4.2016 19:08 Another 16 Christian refugees from Iraq who were brought to the Czech Republic by the Generation 21 Foundation and who have been living in Brno have decided to leave the Czech Republic. They retrieved their passports from the Czech authorities and wanted to go to Germany.  full story

ROMEA: The media need more Romani journalists

15.4.2016 17:52 Richard Samko, Patrik Banga, Jarmila Balážová, Iveta Demeterová, Tomáš Bystrý, Rena Horvátová: Their faces and voices are known to the Czech-speaking public from radio and television broadcasts. Each report they do refutes the prejudice that all Romani people "are the same".  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says USA's human rights report about the Czech Republic is correct and factual

15.4.2016 15:13 Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) says the report issued by the US State Department on the state of human rights in the Czech Republic is correct and factual. In the document, which the American authorities publish annually, reservations were expressed regarding the situation of Romani people and the remarks made by political representatives about the migration crisis, including remarks made by Czech President Miloš Zeman.  full story

Czech Republic: Welfare recipients to be banned from playing slot machines

15.4.2016 14:54 The Czech lower house approved new regulations and taxing of gambling on 13 April. The law is one of several measures against gambling and will contribute mainly by restricting who is able to play games of chance.  full story

Czech Republic: Analysis finds online hate rising, adult males perpetrate the most

13.4.2016 13:24 During 2015 a noticeable growth occurred in the amount of hate speech on Czech-language online social networks and other communications platforms such as discussion forums linked to articles on news servers. Those are the results of an analysis produced by the People in Need (Člověk v tísni) called "Hate Speech in the Online Environment and Social Networks" (Projevy nenávisti v online prostoru a sociálních sítích).  full story

Czech Republic: New play by the Theater of the Oppressed at "Festival of Humanity and Solidarity" this Friday

13.4.2016 10:36 On Friday 15 April at 19:00 a new play by the Theater of the Oppressed, called "Lost" (Ztracená), will be performed as part of the "Festival of Humanity and Solidarity" at the Rock Café (Národní 20, Prague). The play was created by a group of people who wanted to produce something on the topic of the refugee crisis.  full story

Czech Republic: Canadian Ambassador attends International Romani Day event, embassy displays Romani flag

12.4.2016 7:09 On Friday 8 April 2016 Canadian Ambassador Otto Jelinek displayed the Romani flag on the building of the Canadian Embassy in Prague to mark International Romani Day. He was joined by David Tišer of the nonprofit ARA ART organization and Adriana Trejtnarová, an intern working on Romani projects at the embassy who is a student at the Czech Agricultural University.  full story

Czech Republic: International Romani Day marred by conflict at Prague restaurant

9.4.2016 7:50 The third annual celebration of International Romani Day in the Černý Most area of Prague, intended to support intercultural coexistence, was marred by an unpleasant incident yesterday. Josef Baláž, a co-organizer of the event, alleges that a waiter employed at the restaurant visited by concert-goers after the performance told him and the restaurant owner that he and his colleagues would not serve Romani customers.  full story

LIVE ONLINE BROADCAST: International Romani Day celebrations at LaFabrika in Prague

8.4.2016 17:24 The Romani association ARA ART and its partners are holding their second annual celebration of International Romani Day, this year with the theme of "Honoring the Invisible." Paťiv (respect) will be paid to young Romani people who are disrupting the entrenched stereotypes that predominate in Czech society about Romani people.  full story

US Embassy in Prague displays Romani flag in honor of International Romani Day

8.4.2016 17:04 The Embassy of the United States of America in Prague has displayed the Romani flag on its building to mark International Romani Day and US Ambassador Andrew Schapiro has released a video in which he expresses his support for the inclusion of Romani people into society and the principles of equal treatment. "The Embassy of the United States in Prague is celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the Roma and their contributions to the world today. On the occasion of International Romani Day we would like to greet all Romani people everywhere and wish them all the best. Bachtalo Romano D‘ives," the Ambassador says in the message.  full story

Czech Republic: Amaro Records recording studio opens in Brno

8.4.2016 15:31 Yesterday the IQ Roma servis (IQRS) nonprofit organization opened the Amaro Records recording studio in the site of a former gambling parlor located between the "Romani ghetto" and the "normal" city center of Brno. "We were inspired by Barcelona, where a similar recording studio serves foreign nationals and migrants, but our studio is for anyone and everyone," Katarína Klamková, director of IQ Roma servis, explained to the Czech daily Mladá front DNES  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister on International Romani Day: Quality education, more awareness of Romani culture, history, language all important

8.4.2016 11:56 According to Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier, a quality education is an essential prerequisite for improving the position of Romani people in society. It is also important to increase awareness of Romani culture, history and language.  full story

Jan Husák: Educating everyone together challenges each of us to adapt

7.4.2016 12:02 When it comes to the 2007 judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the matter of D.H. and Others versus the Czech Republic, contradictory positions are currently being taken on this issue in Czech society, with some publicly condemning this judgment while others defend it. Even though both sides of this dispute predominantly connect it with the obligation to abolish the "special schools" and lay the groundwork for educating everyone together, after familiarizing myself with this unique judgment I see its essential message as being something else, namely, its interpretation of indirect discrimination.  full story

Commentary: Romipen is democratic, enriching not just Romani people but Czech society, Europe and the world

4.4.2016 21:27 Friday 8 April will be International Romani Day. In the Czech Republic the largest number of events on this day will be held in Brno.  full story

videoCzech Republic: NGO campaign draws attention to anti-Romani prejudice

2.4.2016 20:43 A new campaign against prejudice toward Romani people has been launched in the Czech Republic to mark International Romani Day this year by the ARA ART organization. The campaign is called #PrayForPrej and one of its main ideas is that Romani people do not live according to prejudiced expectations, but fully participate in Czech society, and people should not believe the lies disseminated about them.  full story

Local councilor convicted of drugs charge, Czech Constitutional Court says he should not have held been in custody

1.4.2016 20:43 Marcel Cichý, a local councilor and educator in the Czech town of Trmice charged with contributing to international drug sales, was convicted and sentenced on Friday to two years in prison, conditionally suspended for four years. His cousin Ladislav Cichý, who was also charged in the case, will be going to prison for eight and a half years, while another cousin, Pavel Kišš, got a three-year prison sentence suspended for five years.  full story