News

Czech Republic: Romani Holocaust survivors' association chair says he has no reason to doubt pig farm will go

11.11.2016 17:28 At the beginning of this week, the Czech Government approved a proposal to close the operations of the pig farm that is now located on the site of the former concentration camp at Lety by Písek and has commissioned assessments of the valuation of the land. News server Romea.cz has asked Čeněk Růžička, a member of the Czech Government Council on Romani Community Affairs and chair of the Committee for the Redress of the Romani Holocaust in the Czech Republic (VPORH), how he views recent developments around the pig farm, which he has long striven to remove.  full story

videoCzech Interior Minister meets with representatives of family of deceased Romani man

11.11.2016 16:49 Today at 13:00 a meeting was held between Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) and Deputy Police Director Martin Vondrášek with the legal representatives and members of the Demeter family, whose son died under still-unexplained circumstances on 18 October in the Czech town of Žatec. The meeting with the minister was attended by Romani community members Martin Bajger, Jan Čonka, Vladimír Hamouz, Josef Stojka and Marcel Ščuka.  full story

Czech Prime Minister Sobotka announces that Health and Human Rights Ministers are leaving

11.11.2016 16:25 Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) unexpectedly announced at a press conference today at 15:30 that there will definitely be changes to those holding the posts of Health Minister and Human Rights Minister. He said he had already informed both the Czech President and the leadership of the Social Democrats of the changes to the cabinet.  full story

Czech politician and sports figure convicted of buying Romani votes

11.11.2016 10:30 The former Deputy Mayor of Most, Hana Jeníčková, was sentenced on Monday, 7 November 2016 to eight months in prison, conditionally postponed for one year, for obstructing the preparation and conduct of the municipal elections there in 2014. The same punishment was handed down against the former director of the sports hall in Most, Jan Hašek.  full story

Commentary: The local dispute over "counting Roma"

11.11.2016 8:03 A very typical dispute about the "counting of Romani children" has exploded in the Czech towns of Krásná Lípa and Rumburk. Local media distortions are a part of it.  full story

Czech Police charge man with attack on NGO that organized donations for refugees

11.11.2016 6:29 Police in the Czech town of Pardubice have charged a 22-year-old man on suspicion of committing an attack in April 2016 on the Kašpárek Family Center by pouring paint on the doors and wall of the center and pasting a fictional obituary of center director Olga Pavlů on the front window. The man is charged with committing property damage and threatening danger.  full story

ROMEA launches first year of Literary Competition for Romani college students

10.11.2016 19:14 On the occasion of the International Day of the Romani Language the ROMEA organization in the Czech Republic announced its first-ever Literary Competition for Romani Students. College students of Romani origin can submit their contributions for the inaugural year of this competition now.  full story

Green Party says Czech Interior Minister must guarantee proper investigation of tragic incident in Žatec

10.11.2016 18:57 The Green Party in the Czech Republic believes the Interior Minister must guarantee the state will take an interest in properly investigating last month's incident in a pizzeria in the town of Žatec during which a 26-year-old Romani man died. There are suspicions that the intervention performed by uniformed officers was not proportionate in terms of the use of force.  full story

Commentary: Why we need data about Romani pupils, and not only about them

10.11.2016 6:39 "The discussion of the collection of sensitive data in the schools, i.e., data about disability or ethnicity, has been connected in the Czech Republic exclusively with tracking the number of Romani pupils," Štěpán Drahokoupil of the Open Society Foundation Prague writes in a commentary first published by the news server "Česká škola" (Czech School).  full story

Commentary: Trump won. Should we admire him?

9.11.2016 12:31 Donald Trump has won the election. His purposeful efforts, worthy of a successful businessman, have become the symbol of today.  full story

Czech Health Minister, Human Rights Minister and Labor Minister may step down - PM and President meeting today to decide

8.11.2016 16:27 Three ministers are likely to be dismissed from the Government of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the chair of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD): Czech Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Minister Jiří Dienstbier, and Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová-Tominová.  full story

Czech Radio marks International Romani Language Day by premiering radio drama based on a Romani fairytale

8.11.2016 9:57 Czech Radio's "Vltava" station, which focuses on culture, broadcast a segment dedicated to the Romani language and literature on 5 November at 9 AM as part of its "Weekend Edition" program. At 10 AM the station broadcast the premiere of a dramatized reading of the Romani fairytale "About the clever (but deceitful thief) Bajcúr".  full story

Czech Republic: Funeral of young Romani man who died after a scuffle in a pizzeria last month

8.11.2016 9:16 Yesterday more than 200 people attended the funeral, held just after noon in Lenešice near Louny, for the young Romani man who died in mid-October during an incident in a pizzeria in the town of Žatec. The situation was monitored by police, who were also on patrol in Žatec at the scene of the unfortunate incident.  full story

Council of Europe's Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues writes to Czech Interior Minister about death of a young Romani man

7.11.2016 20:25 On 7 November, the very day that Miroslav Demeter's funeral was being held, the Council of Europe's Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues, Mr Valeriu Nicolae, has sent a letter to Czech Interior Minister Chovanec expressing his "deep concern" over the circumstances of Mr Demeter's death. News server Romea.cz republishes the letter in full here:  full story

videoCzech Republic: Romani woman who saved five lives four years ago lives in a shelter because no one will rent to her

7.11.2016 15:54 "I still remember what happened back then, I frequently discuss it with my friends... or I sometimes jerk awake when I'm asleep and dreaming about the water. It's better now, though," says Irena Drevňáková, the Romani woman who did not hesitate four years ago to save the lives of several people who were in a car crash.  full story

Czech Gov't approves plan to close pig farm at Lety, wants estimate of land value

7.11.2016 15:33 The Czech Government has approved a plan to close the industrial pig farm in the vicinity of the remembrance site for Romani victims of the Holocaust at Lety by Písek. Spokesperson Martin Ayrer announced the news on Twitter without further details.  full story

Czech Government approves closure of pig farm on site of former concentration camp for Roma

7.11.2016 14:25 The Czech Government has approved a bill to close the operations of the industrial pig farm located in the vicinity of the remembrance site at Lety by Písek. Spokesperson Martin Ayrer announced the news on Twitter.  full story

Renata Berkyová: Who were the guards at Lety by Písek?

7.11.2016 8:58 Even though more than half a century has passed since the camp at Lety by Písek came into existence, to this day that place and especially its story continues to spark tempestuous emotions. For some, the Romani Holocaust is one of the most tragic episodes in the life of the Czech Roma, while for others this controversial topic seems, at a minimum, one that it is appropriate to cast doubt on or to exploit as a way to score votes  full story

Czech Govt Roma Council reviews Romani Holocaust sites, victim database, and compensation for involuntary sterilizations

4.11.2016 15:38 The Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs met on Tuesday in Prague and discussed much more than just the scandal in Žatec. After opening with a vote of agreement to call on the Interior Ministry and Police Presidium to report to the Council on the investigation there, the Council focused on the opening of the school year in relation to implementation of the amendment to the Schools Act legislating the education of children and pupils with special educational needs.  full story

Europe's Human Rights Commissioner raises lack of redress for involuntary sterilization with Czech Govt again

4.11.2016 13:13 The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, has reiterated to the Czech Prime Minister that an ex gratia compensation procedure for survivors of involuntary sterilization is the best way to redress them. In his letter, the Commissioner mentions that many other Council of Europe member states - namely, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland - have assumed responsibility for sterilization policies that have resulted in human rights violations in the past and have established special remedies for those who have survived such treatment.  full story