Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Racist murderer of Romani man is ultra-right's candidate in regional elections

17.2.2016 18:59 Vlastimil Pechanec, who was convicted in 2003 of racially-motivated murder, will run in the Czech Republic's regional elections this autumn as a candidate for the Worker's Social Justice Party (Dělnická stranu sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). Pechanec, who was characterized during his trial by expert witnesses as a recidivist whom it would be hard to reform, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the racist murder of a Romani man, Otto Absolon, in the town of Svitavy, and was then released on parole after serving 12 years of that sentence.  full story

Council of Europe's ROMACT project is seeking facilitators - deadline THURSDAY

15.2.2016 22:17 The ROMACT project is seeking facilitators to collaborate with local authorities and Romani communities in the Czech Republic - the deadline for applying is 18 February 2016. At this moment the call for applications concerns the areas of Budišov nad Budišovkou, Litvínov, Rokycany and Vítkov.  full story

Czech Education Minister does not anticipate a "revolution" in the instruction of the "mildly mentally disabled"

15.2.2016 21:40 The innovations that have been designed and adopted in the Czech Republic with respect to the education of children with "mild mental disability" may not even be significantly apparent in practice. Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) has said she does not presume there will be any significant changes beginning in September as a result of the modifications.  full story

Czech Republic: Interpreter confirms TV Prima manipulated footage of refugee interview

15.2.2016 20:35 A new development has arisen in the scandal around the manipulative reporting by the Prima television station about Christian refugees from Iraq who came to the Czech Republic several weeks ago with the aid of the Generation 21 Foundation. A translator hired by Prima whose work was used during a second report broadcast on Saturday, one that the station intended to disprove the allegations of manipulation, has now revealed details that show Prima did indeed manipulate its initial reporting and suppressed important information in its follow-up reporting.  full story

Czech Republic: TV Prima releases more footage in its defense, but doubts remain about its interview with refugee

15.2.2016 4:36 The Prima television station in the Czech Republic responded during its main news show Saturday to the criticism it received after previously broadcasting a report about Christian refugees from Iraq who came to the country several weeks ago with the aid of the Generation 21 Foundation. Prima asserts in its reporting that the refugees are complaining about the apartments they have been offered and have compared them to cowsheds.  full story

Czech Republic: Television station issues statement about interview with refugee that sparked online hatred

12.2.2016 23:53 The TV Prima television station in the Czech Republic has issued a statement about an interview broadcast on 11 February with a refugee in which the interpretation of what the refugee said was inaccurate. News server Romea.cz is providing the statement here in full translation.  full story

Czech Republic: Manipulative television report sparks hatred against Christian refugees from Iraq

12.2.2016 19:51 A report by the Prima television station broadcast on 11 February 2016 in its main news program has sparked many hateful online posts in the Czech Republic. The report featured a refugee who arrived in the Czech Republic several weeks ago with the aid of the Generation 21 Foundation (NF G21) and who was alleged to have expressed many criticisms of the accommodation he was offered in the town of Jihlava.  full story

Czech Republic: ROMEA trains police on working in excluded localities

11.2.2016 19:14 From 8 - 10 February 2016, yet another set of lectures was held in Beroun, Czech Republic to prepare 60 police officers from four different regions with higher numbers of socially excluded localities in how to work with members of the Romani minority. The aim of the pilot education project is to introduce officers from district departments into the field who have knowledge of the Romani environment so they will be able to establish mutually beneficial communication with them.  full story

Blog administrator at Czech daily gets death threats after shutting down "Bloc against Islam" bloggers

10.2.2016 18:57 Cyber-bullying, death threats, racist insults. Patrik Banga, who is charge of administering blogs for the Czech daily iDNES.cz, has been facing all of those since Monday when, after several warnings, he closed down the blog of Martin Konvička, the leader of the populist, xenophobic "Bloc against Islam" group.  full story

Czech demonstrations confirm the radicalization of society, experts believe

9.2.2016 22:30 Saturday's demonstrations about migration confirmed radicalizing trends and are a reflection of the distribution of various moods in Czech society with respect to the migration issue. They also demonstrated the growing aggression, hatred, and violence taking place here at an interpersonal level.  full story

Karel Holomek: Our children, Czech and Romani, need to go to school together now more than ever

9.2.2016 21:02 Here in the Czech Republic we have all been talking about the terminology being used to describe the education of children in the primary schools. Of course, it is the impact of these education programs that has such a basic, determining influence on all of society once the children educated in these programs grow up.  full story

František Kostlán: Neo-Nazis and the "optimists" are not equivalents, all democrats should oppose extremism

9.2.2016 3:25 We have made a mistake. We have let a discussion arise in Czech society asserting that the followers of former Czech President Havel, the "optimists" or the "truth-lovers", are just one side of the same coin as the fascists, neo-Nazis and populists of this society.  full story

Arson attack Saturday after Prague demonstrations for and against refugee reception

9.2.2016 2:00 "The moment it happened I said to myself 'This just can't be happening, it's like a bad film'," says Monika Bundžová, one of the witnesses to the attack on the Klinika Autonomous Center in the Žižkov quarter of Prague by a group of approximately 20 right-wing extremists. What happened on Saturday evening at Klinka was an attempt at an action organized in a military way - and if the assailants themselves were not assumed to be Czechs, the media and politicians would certainly be calling it "terrorism" now.  full story

Czech Justice Minister says police work failed during demonstrations in Prague

9.2.2016 1:40 The police, according to Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikán, failed on Saturday when they did not intervene against masked rioters attacking the procession of the "No to Racism" initiative as it was heading to Prague Castle. He believes the commanders of the police maneuvers should be disciplined.  full story

Czech Police say man with no mask at scene of masked neo-Nazi attack was an anti-conflict officer

9.2.2016 1:02 The Prague Police have responded to numerous discrepancies and questions raised by the media about Saturday's demonstrations and have officially explained some of the moments that transpired. News server Romea.cz is publishing the police press release in full translation here.  full story

Czech Republic: Xenophobic populists criticize Merkel and migration, neo-Nazis throw Molotov cocktails and rocks

8.2.2016 23:46 On Saturday more than 1 000 people attended a demonstration against Islam on Hradčanské Square in Prague convened by the "Bloc against Islam" and the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit) movement. Speakers at the event criticized those advocating for refugees and politicians in both the Czech Republic and the EU  full story

Czech Justice Minister wants judge whose writing insults gays, refugees and Roma to resign

3.2.2016 18:38 News server Aktuálně.cz reports that Miloš Zbránek, a judge with the Liberec branch of the Ústí nad Labem Regional Court, is facing disciplinary action over articles he has authored and published online in which he has criticized Czech Public Defender of Rights Anna Šabatová, ethnic minorities, gay people and refugees. Zbránek considers his writings to be satire.  full story

Intentional misdiagnosis of intellectual disability in the Czech Republic - a case study

2.2.2016 23:36 During the past year, the Otevřená společnost, o.p.s. organization has performed a survey of lower primary education in the Czech Republic. That survey especially emphasized the way instructors view the education of majority-society boys and girls as compared to Romani boys and girls.  full story

Analysis: Czech court convicts neo-Nazis as an organized group for the first time in history

1.2.2016 20:36 Over the past three years we have regularly reported on the case of neo-Nazis from the Czech faction of the Blood & Honour organization who have been indicted for that activity (see here, here and here). This analysis is a summary of the development of this case so far, which has just produced its first verdict: Most of those indicted have been convicted as members of an organized group.
 full story

Czech Public Defender of Rights says municipal bans on sitting in public are unconstitutional

1.2.2016 0:45 News server iDNES.cz reports that Czech Public Defender of Rights Anna Šabatová is asking the Constitutional Court to overturn some parts of ordinances adopted by the northern Bohemian towns of Litvínov and Varnsdorf banning people from sitting down outdoors on low walls or steps. Similar ordinances have multiplied in recent years, but Šabatová believes they violate freedom of movement and are unconstitutional.  full story