News

Civil society members of Czech Govt Roma Council demand thorough investigation of Romani man's death as soon as possible

23.10.2016 17:03 Several members of the Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs are demanding that the criminal justice authorities thoroughly investigate the death of a young Romani in Žatec as soon as possible. News server Romea.cz publishes their declaration here in full translation.  full story

Radim Kupec on the death of Romani man in Žatec: The essence of equality is justice

23.10.2016 15:30 With respect to the events of Tuesday, when a young Romani man, Miroslav Demeter, died, many articles have already written and many questions asked that have not yet found their answers. Here I will try not to repeat what has been said by the others who have not been afraid to openly write their opinions about this issue.  full story

videoCzech Republic: Video of Romani assembly in Žatec on 20 October

22.10.2016 15:37 The video above is an edited recording of the gathering that took place on Thursday, 20 October in the Czech town of Žatec in front of the pizzeria where a Romani man (age 26) died on Tuesday at around 19:00. Approximately 100 Romani people gathered on that occasion.  full story

Gejza Horváth cancels appearance at Roma Spirit award over death of a Romani man in Žatec

22.10.2016 14:27 Today Gejza Horváth wrote the following open letter and published it to his personal Facebook profile.  full story

Renáta Kováčová on the death of the Romani man in Žatec: Exonerating autopsy results impossible to believe

22.10.2016 11:37 My head is still spinning from the idea that somebody can walk into a pizzeria alive, never to leave again. I am not afraid to say that I was also quite frightened and puzzled by the initial autopsy results according to which that young man died without any third-party involvement.  full story

Tomáš Ščuka on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: We do not support antigypsyism and we insist on objectivity!

22.10.2016 10:59 In recent days, most of us been paying increasing attention to the sad incident in Žatec in which a 27-year-old man died after a scuffle in a local restaurant. To be honest, any such incident involving the unfortunate loss of human life makes me emotional and sad, especially when somebody young loses their life.  full story

Lucie Oračková on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: Czech Police are not protecting us

22.10.2016 9:40 Many people are outraged by the recent death of a young Romani man at a pizzeria in Žatec. Basically this is not about whether the person who died was Romani, Vietnamese or from the North Pole.  full story

The final hours of life of the young Romani man who died at a Czech pizzeria

22.10.2016 8:14 On Tuesday, 18 October just after 19:00, a conflict happened at a pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec between customers and a young Romani man who died after a scuffle and intervention by police. News server Romea.cz has now mapped the final hours of life of 27-year-old M.D.  full story

Czech Republic: Pizzeria management says Romani man who died there attacked customers, who "detained him until police arrived"

21.10.2016 21:23 According to the management of the Cafe Pizzerie Panamera, the young Romani man who died in the restaurant on Tuesday, 18 October, visited the business twice that day. On the first occasion he reportedly ordered a non-alcoholic beverage and wanted to borrow a telephone, allegedly to call his relatives.  full story

Michal Miko on the death of a Romani man in Žatec: What next?

21.10.2016 19:42 Since yesterday evening I have not been able to sleep because of the situation that happened in Žatec this Tuesday. Was that act the beginning of something deeper in this society?  full story

Analysis: Swiss Parliament approves law on "solidarity aid" to victims of forced sterilization

21.10.2016 17:20 "Solidarity contribution" instead of compensation  full story

videoCzech Police said to have prevented parents of deceased Romani man from seeing his body before the autopsy

21.10.2016 15:11 The video above is an interview with Miroslav Demeter, the father of the young Romani man who died in Žatec earlier this week. Many things remain unclear about what precisely happened when the man entered the Panamera restaurant.  full story

Stanislava Ondová: I'm beginning to no longer feel safe in our Czech Republic

21.10.2016 14:01 We probably all know by now that a young father of two children has died in Žatec under very strange circumstances. According to the Czech Police, nobody is to blame for his death even though video footage recorded by a customer at the restaurant where the incident took place appears to show something else.  full story

videoEyewitness says assailants shouting racist abuse and beating Romani man before he died were in full view of Czech Police

21.10.2016 13:16 The video above is an interview with an eyewitness who saw part of the incident on 18 October in the Czech town of Žatec that resulted in the death of a Romani man. Eyewitness Miroslav Mašek says he saw the incident through the glass wall of the pizzeria.  full story

Patrik Banga: Dear Czech Police, 27-year-olds do not just up and die

21.10.2016 12:11 Three days ago, somebody died in the town of Žatec under circumstances that are basically absolutely unclear. According to one version of what happened, the man assaulted customers in a restaurant and local police intervened against him.  full story

Czech Police say autopsy finds young Romani man's death was not caused by a third party

21.10.2016 10:15 The Czech Police are asserting that the initial findings of a court-ordered autopsy have not ascertained any third-party culpability for the death of a young Romani man at a pizzeria in Žatec. The man died on 18 October, shortly after 19:00, after getting into a scuffle with other customers which local police officers intervened in also.  full story

Czech Republic: Two local assemblies memorialize Romani man's death

21.10.2016 9:31 In the Czech towns of Louny and Žatec, assemblies were held yesterday at 15:00 to memorialize the death of a young Romani man in a local pizzeria. The first gathering took place on Tyršovo Square in Louny, where more than 30 people gathered.  full story

Czech Republic: Young Romani man has died after a scuffle, no charges filed yet

20.10.2016 20:32 On Tuesday, 18 October at around 19:00 a conflict took place among customers at a pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec, one of whom, a young Romani man, died afterward. Local police officers intervened during the scuffle.  full story

Hungary: 1 000 fans of Roma Pride march through Budapest, honor Romani revolutionaries

20.10.2016 19:40 The Roma Pride event took place yesterday for the fourth time in the Hungarian capital with an assembly and subsequent march attended by roughly 1 000 people. News server Origo.hu quoted educator Mónika Rózsa, a member of the Roma Club Foundation, which organizes the event, as saying Roma Pride Day is a public event where members of the Romani community espouse their identity and embrace each other.  full story

Fifty legislators meet with the Dalai Lama in the Czech Senate, criticize statement by high officials

20.10.2016 18:30 Approximately 50 Czech MPs and Senators met yesterday morning in the Senate with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Czech MP Petr Gazdík, vice-chair of the Chamber of Deputies (for the TOP 09 and Mayors coalition) posted about the meeting on Facebook.  full story