Czech Republic

Some Czech schools institute online reservations for first-grade enrollment

8.1.2016 16:38 In mid-January the enrollment of children into first grade who will reach the age of six during 2016 will begin in the Czech Republic. The main criterion for a child's acceptance into first grade is, according to the Schools Act, whether the child lives in the school's so-called catchment area.  full story

Commentary by Petr Uhl: "The Jew Hilsner from Polná was unjustly convicted of the murder of the Christian, Hrůzová"

7.1.2016 23:03 I have borrowed the headline for this commentary from yesterday's news reports published by several Czech media outlets. The full headline was: "Leopold Hilsner, a resident of the Jewish ghetto in Polná, was unjustly convicted of the murder of the Christian, Hrůzová."  full story

Czech children give a record 3 873 Christmas gifts to their impoverished peers

6.1.2016 14:55 Diaconia of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren reports that through one of its projects a record 3 873 boxes of Christmas presents were distributed to children from socially vulnerable families or excluded localities in the Czech Republic this holiday season. The Christmas surprises, wrapped in shoe boxes, were prepared by other children from various locations around the country with the aid of their parents or teachers.  full story

Czech residential hotel with 200 tenants goes second day without power

5.1.2016 23:28 A residential hotel on Zelená Street in the Czech town of Děčín, which became a target of anti-Romani marches in the summer of 2014, has been without electricity since yesterday after several fuses blew. Around 200 occupants live in the building, a large portion of whom are children.  full story

Children from five Czech children's homes spend Christmas in the mountains

4.1.2016 17:28 Children from five children's homes in the Czech Republic found presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning this year thanks to the Duha Zámeček (Rainbow Manor) association's annual Rainbow Christmas in the mountains event. This year the children took an imaginary journey across the ocean and experienced an American Christmas with Santa Claus and turkey.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister congratulates 30+ recipients of Roma Education Fund scholarships

15.12.2015 21:28 On Friday, 11 December, the annual gala to celebrate the awarding of scholarships to Romani college students took place in Prague. For the 2015/2016 academic year, 34 students received scholarships from the Budapest-based Roma Education Fund (REF).  full story

Czech Republic: Roma Spirit award goes to director of primary school that includes Roma and to Romea.cz co-founder

14.12.2015 22:28 The fifth annual Roma Spirit awards in the Czech Republic have been given in five regular categories and two special ones. The gala awards ceremony evening at the Prague Crossroads on Thursday, 10 December, International Human Rights Day, included performances by Antonín Gondolán, the band Terne Čhave and Natálie Bagárová.  full story

US Ambassador to Czech Republic gives Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award to director of primary school that includes Roma

13.12.2015 16:59 The Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award for work in the field of human rights was given on 9 December to Marie Gottfriedová, director of the Trmice Primary School in the Ústí Region of the Czech Republic. The award has been given by the US Embassy since 2004 and was given to Ms Gottfriedová by US Ambassador Andrew Schapiro.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani author and journalist Gejza Demeter has passed away

9.12.2015 17:28 The eminent Romani author and journalist Gejza Demeter has passed away; his funeral will be this Friday, 11 December, at 13:00 in the ceremonial hall of the cemetery in Neratovice. Jan Červenka, head of the Romani Studies Seminar at Charles University in Prague contacted news server Romea.cz on behalf of Mr Demeter's family last week with the news.  full story

Residential hotel tenants petition Czech PM over discrimination against the impoverished

8.12.2015 18:26 "The poverty caused by the ill-considered amendments to the social laws is unlike any that has ever existed in the modern history of our country," reads a press release sent out by an informal initiative of residential hotel tenants asserting that the situation of the families with children, senior citizens and unemployed occupants of such facilities is so critical it could become a cause of social unrest. The tenants have written a petition to the Czech Prime Minister protesting against a planned amendment to the law on aid to those in material distress.  full story

Czech teachers can invite performances from "You, Me and Them - theater as a forum against prejudice" to their schools

4.12.2015 23:25 "You, Me and Them - theater as a forum against prejudice" is a joint project of the Antikomplex organization and the Slovo 21 NGO in the Czech Republic. Three teams of actors from three different cities (Ostrava, Písek and Prague) give three different performances, the common aim of which is to "develop a culture of dialogue between the majority and minority groups in the Czech Republic and, through theater, to open up a common space leading to the awareness of each individual's own life situation, power to achieve change, and rights," according to a press release about the project.  full story

Advent Challenge calls on Czech society to defend itself against hatred and populists

3.12.2015 18:42 The Post Bellum organization has issued an Advent Challenge warning against the abuse of concerns over the refugee crisis, the situation in Russia, and the division of society. The text was written in response to the events that have been occurring all over Europe in recent months.  full story

Karel Holomek: Do Roma fall into poverty from the same causes and in the same way as everyone else?

2.12.2015 19:43 In the Czech Government's regular annual report on the state of the Romani minority, the most essential message is that as many as 115 000 people today are living in impoverished ghettos and that this number, compared to 2006, has almost doubled from the 60 000 people so afflicted then, and that currently there are as many as 600 such ghettos (excluded localities) compared to an estimated 300 then. It is also casually mentioned, along with this number, that most of these people are Romani, because, after all, this is a report on the status of the Romani minority, not just a report on the state of poverty in general.  full story

Czech state prosecutor says gallows at demonstration was illegal

1.12.2015 17:11 Vladimír Heřman's decision to bring a homemade gallows inscribed with "for treason" to a July demonstration against Islam in Prague will apparently result in a trial. The state prosecutor has assessed his actions as illegal and he will most probably be prosecuted.  full story

Czech Republic: Museum of Romani Culture director says economic situation of Roma deteriorating

30.11.2015 16:57 The Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, Czech Republic, which will celebrate 25 years of existence next year, is attempting to influence both the majority society and Romani people equally. The Museum aids Romani people in finding their roots and maintaining their traditions while attempting to disseminate information and refute some of the prejudices and stereotypes held about them by others.  full story

Drahomír Radek Horváth: Criticizing the Pope's reception of Romani people is disgraceful

30.11.2015 4:27 On 26 October 2015 Pope Francis met with several thousand Roma and Sinti. "The aim of this event is to remind Romani people and the entire community that the Church is open to those who live on the outskirts of society," the Vatican communicated ahead of the meeting.  full story

Czech Theater of the Oppressed festival - Divufest 2015 - ends today

28.11.2015 3:59 Performances by actors' groups throughout the Czech Republic and a German partner organization, a three-day training of jokers led by experienced instructor Terry O'Leary and workshops of the Theater of the Oppressed for advanced and beginning performers from Germany (Hamze Bytyci and Christoph Leucht) are part of the second annual festival of the Theater of the Oppressed, Divufest 2015. The workshops are free of charge and interpreted into Czech.  full story

Czech President: The migration crisis is an organized invasion, PM's position risks the country's security

27.11.2015 23:58 Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD), according to Czech President Miloš Zeman, is risking the security of the Czech Republic through his position on the refugee crisis. The President told the Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES that the current migration wave is an organized invasion.  full story

Czech authorities indict leader of anti-Islam movement for inciting hatred on Facebook

25.11.2015 21:24 The chair of the Bloc against Islam, Martin Konvička, was charged with inciting hatred against Muslims on 18 November over remarks he posted to Facebook. His legal representative, Klára Samková, announced the news to journalists yesterday.  full story

Czech Constitutional Court rejects complaint from perpetrator of machete attack serving 17.5 years in prison

23.11.2015 23:47 The Czech Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud - ÚS) has rejected a complaint from Vojtěch Husák, one of the perpetrators of a machete attack on the personnel of a bar in the town of Nový Bor several years ago who received the longest sentence. He is currently serving 17.5 years in prison.  full story