News

Czech broadcast regulator: Prima TV's coverage of Iraqi refugees (and itself) broke the law

16.1.2017 9:35 Last year TV Prima broke the law through its news broadcasting about the integration of refugees from Iraq into the Czech Republic, according to the Council on Radio and Television Broadcasting (Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání - RRTV). A total of four news reports broadcast in its main news program, "FTV Prima News", were found to have manipulated viewers and to have not been objective.  full story

Czech broadcast authority says public television's news reporting on the US election broke the law

16.1.2017 8:35 Public broadcaster Czech Television broke the law in its November 2016 news broadcasts about election night in the United States of America, according to the Council on Radio and Television broadcasting (RRTV). Its broadcasting was imbalanced in favor of candidate Hillary Clinton and at the expense of Donald Trump, the RRTV announced in a press release on 12 January.  full story

Czech coalition Government reaches agreement on social housing, will the law pass?

16.1.2017 7:56 The parties in the Czech governing coalition met on Thursday, 12 January and agreed that the law on social housing will not create a new central office to administer such housing, as Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) proposed before Christmas, and that municipal involvement in the system will also be voluntary. Vice-chair of the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) Jan Bartošek said the law would make possible a pilot program and if municipalities do not voluntarily step up, they will be obligated to provide social housing through an amendment to the law.  full story

Czech Interior Minister and President disagree about disinformation unit

16.1.2017 6:43 Czech President Miloš Zeman and Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) met last week but were unable to find a common position on the new unit that has been focused on fighting disinformation since the beginning of the year. Zeman is convinced the staffers of the new department are incapable of detecting actual disinformation.  full story

Civil March for Aleppo in the Czech Republic receives both hate and love

15.1.2017 11:02 Many readers may have noticed in the media, or in online social networks, that the March for Aleppo is proceeding through the Czech Republic - but what is it? Last month a Polish blogger and journalist living in Berlin, Anna Alboth, made this video:  full story

Romani family files complaint against Czech investigation of death

13.1.2017 17:13 The family of Miroslav Demeter, who died on 18 October 2016 at a pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec under still-unclarified circumstances, has filed a complaint against the district State Prosecutor's Office in Louny. The bereaved are convinced, by the course of the investigation to date, that the police are not investigating the case thoroughly because the deceased was dependent on drugs.
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Human Rights Watch: Success of populists in Europe and US endangers human rights

13.1.2017 11:15 The electoral success of Donald Trump in the USA and the triumphs of populists in Europe represent a serious threat to the protection of fundamental human rights. Today the international organization for human rights protection, Human Rights Watch (HRW), presented that finding in its annual report.  full story

Hungarian PM attacks nonprofits supported by Soros, wants to close them

13.1.2017 9:24 The BBC and the Bloomberg wire service reported yesterday that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is said to be intent on taking aggressive action against NGOs financed by billionaire George Soros. The Hungarian PM has previously been criticized by the EU and the USA for his attacks on such organizations.  full story

Czech historian gets death threats after saying migration is a natural phenomenon

13.1.2017 7:35 News server Lidovky.cz reports that Charles University's Faculty of Arts issued a statement on 10 January publicly backing one of its academics, Matěj Spurný, an historian and specialist in modern nationalism and the history of modern European dictatorships. He became the target of death threats and racist abuse on online social networks after giving an interview to Týden magazine about migration at the beginning of January.  full story

Carmen Russo: The Fight For a Better Future. Battling Racism in Czech Schools

12.1.2017 12:15 A small group of American interns at The New Presence office were exploring the answer to a seemingly difficult question: Why are some Czechs so outwardly racist?  full story

Czech Deputy Ombudsman: We cannot treat people as individuals

12.1.2017 7:44 "Human rights and security are communicating vessels. A person who is not secure is not free. The degree of danger that is now being felt in Europe must have an influence on how human rights are conceived of," the lawyer and Deputy Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček has said in an interview for the Czech magazine RESPEKT.  full story

Czech Republic: Investigation into Romani man's death continues as interethnic gulf widens

11.1.2017 7:13 Last fall was marked for thousands of Romani people in the Czech Republic by the mysterious, still-unclarified death of a young man, Miroslav Demeter, in a pizzeria in Žatec. During 20 demonstrations and memorial assemblies around the country and abroad, Romani people took to the streets with the aim of expressing their opinion that the case must be properly investigated.  full story

Slovak President gives state honors to 20 figures, including Czech politician

10.1.2017 11:45 High state honors were awarded yesterday in Slovakia to film director Juraj Herz, in memoriam to the longtime editor of the Romano nevo l'il newspaper Daniela Hivešová-Šilanová, and to the Czech politician Michael Kocáb. They were among 20 such figures honored by Slovak President Andrej Kiska at the castle in Bratislava.  full story

Germany: Berlinale Film Festival opens with film about Django Reinhardt

10.1.2017 10:55 The 67th annual incarnation of one of the most significant film festivals in the world, Germany's Berlinale, will open this year with the world premier of "Django". The feature-length film about the genius Sinti jazz musician is a directorial debut for French producer and screenwriter Etienne Comar, who is known primarily thanks to his work on the screenplay for the critically-acclaimed 2015 film "Mon Roi" (My King).  full story

Albín Balát: The curious New Year's maneuvers of the Czech Police

10.1.2017 9:48 Recently photographs and video footage have been appearing on online social networking sites showing various interventions by the Czech Police. These amateur photos and recordings have been viewed several thousand times.  full story

England: Families of girls who died after hit-and-run give thanks for support, ask Romani community not to raise any more money

10.1.2017 8:26 The families of the Romani girls who were killed in England on New Year's Eve by an irresponsible hit-and-run driver have sent a video message through the Facebook profile of one of their relatives asking the public not to organize any more fundraising drives to support them. In the roughly three-minute message, the family members each express their gratitude to everybody who has already provided them with financial, moral and psychological support.  full story

Social housing law sparks dispute between ministers for ANO and Czech Social Democrats

10.1.2017 7:36 On 24 November 2016, the demolition of two dilapidated prefabricated apartment buildings at the Chanov housing estate in the Czech town of Most was begun in the presence of Czech Regional Development Minister Karla Šlechtová (ANO) (pictured above) and the Mayor of Most, Jan Paparega. The town is one of the successful applicants for subsidies from a program financing the demolition of decrepit buildings offered by the Regional Development Ministry.  full story

Civil March for Aleppo crosses into the Czech Republic

9.1.2017 17:24 Hundreds of people left Berlin, Germany at the end of 2016 on a 4 000 kilometer long march to Aleppo, Syria. Those participating will continue through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey to Syria.  full story

Poll shows 71 % of Czechs support adoption of a social housing law

9.1.2017 9:35 The Platform for Social Housing reports that most Czechs believe a law should exist establishing an obligation for municipalities to maintain a certain number of social apartments to offer to citizens in need of housing. Those are the findings of a representative public opinion poll implemented by the MEDIAN agency for the Association of the Child and Family and the Platform for Social Housing.  full story

Czech Republic: ARA ART launches campaign to support LGBT Roma

9.1.2017 8:32 The ARA ART organization has launched a campaign to support Romani gays and lesbians who face hateful, homophobic, racist or vulgar abuse. The association has published a brief video online in which Romani gays and lesbians talk about what it meant to them to come out about their sexual orientation.  full story