Czech Republic

Czech prosecutor finds no evidence that radical Islamic book disseminates racism

9.7.2015 22:46 Czech Television reports that prosecutors have returned the case of an allegedly radical Islamic book said to have been disseminating racism back to police for further investigation. Jan Lelek, head of the Prague 1 District State Prosecutor, confirmed the information to the Czech News Agency.  full story

Czech Labor Minister plans Internet subsidy for the socially vulnerable

9.7.2015 21:27 Czech Minister for Labor and Social Affairs Michaela Marksová-Tominová (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) is planning to subsidize reduced Internet rates for the socially vulnerable. "The aim is for people at risk of social exclusion to be able to use digital technology to improve their position in society," Jiří Vaňásek, director of the ministry's Labor Market Department, told news server iHNED.cz.  full story

Czech Police: Shooter was a juvenile, no indications yet of extremism playing a role

9.7.2015 18:55 The person suspected of having shot at a bus full of people on Tuesday evening in the Czech town of Plzeň is a 15-year-old youth, according to police. The suspect was apprehended by detectives less than 24 hours after the crime was committed and is now in a police cell.  full story

Czech Police arrest suspected shooter, investigate whether foreigners were his target

9.7.2015 16:06 he Czech Police have arrested a man suspected of have fired at a public bus on Tuesday in the Bory quarter of Plzeň. They also confiscated the weapon that was probably used in the shooting.  full story

Czech Gov't Roma Commission: Municipal consent to housing benefits must be abolished

9.7.2015 5:43 The Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs, which is chaired by Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier, convened last week and joined those institutions and politicians demanding a new amendment to the law on aid to those in material distress. As of May, local municipalities, not Labor Offices, have been empowered to decide whether housing benefits applications should be awarded.  full story

Czech Republic: Art show about Hodonín concentration camp for Roma opens in Prague

9.7.2015 3:40 On Tuesday, 30 June an exhibition of art by Michaela Pospíšilová-Králová entitled "As If It Never Existed" ("Jako by nikdy neexistoval") about the concentration camp for Roma at Hodonín by Kunštát opened at Café v Lese in Prague (Krymská 12, Vršovice). The opening featured a lecture by Markus Pape, a German journalist living in Prague who has long studied the topic of the Roma Holocaust.  full story

Czech Police now agree that "a gallows has no place in a democracy"

8.7.2015 22:30 Speakers at last week's anti-immigration demonstration in the center of Prague may have committed a felony. That is the conclusion of the police officers who have studied the documentation materials and speeches given at previous assemblies of a similar nature.  full story

What grade to give a xenophobic student? Racism at a Czech college

8.7.2015 5:10 This story is about how easy it is to talk about racism in the academic community when one is standing up at the blackboard and how hard it is to handle it inside the community itself. The author does not want to identify the school where this scandal took place, and the names of the author and the student have been changed to protect their identities.  full story

Czech Interior Minister: Today it's a gallows, tomorrow people could be shooting each other

7.7.2015 21:54 According to the Czech Interior Ministry, the law was broken during last week's demonstration against immigration and Islam in Prague. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec says it will be necessary to change police procedure as a result.  full story

New head of Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion will involve more socially excluded people

7.7.2015 19:44 Radek Jiránek became the new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion one month ago. He replaced Martin Šimáček, whose sudden dismissal caused a crisis - employees backed Šimáček, went on strike for one day, and ultimately approximately one-third of them quit.  full story

Czech Education Minister insists on abolishing curriculum for "mild mental disability"

7.7.2015 0:10 Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová confirmed to the Czech News Agency on 3 July that nothing will change with the plan to abolish the use of reduced curricula for "mildly mentally disabled" pupils. Abolition of the curriculum is an important step toward an inclusive education and overcoming discrimination against Romani pupils in the Czech schools.  full story

Commentary: Are the Czech police not bothered by death threats and a gallows?

6.7.2015 22:08 The following commentary was first published in Czech on 2 July.  full story

Commentary: Actually, the Czech Police do not "know" that a gallows has no place in a democracy

6.7.2015 19:32 Police officers do not have an easy job and Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec evidently does not know much about their work. Just imagine someone bringing a mock-up of a gallows to a demonstration, as occurred last Wednesday.  full story

Czech Republic: Thousands call on Government to stand up to hatred

6.7.2015 17:01 Last Wednesday's demonstration on Wenceslas Square in Prague demonstrated how hot-button problems related to the hysteria being spread on the topic of refugees in the Czech Republic are being dealt with. The event sparked a more or less immediate reaction and an Open Letter to the Czech PM and Interior Minister was posted online within 48 hours.  full story

Czech Prime Minister: Police procedure during demonstration with gallows was absurd

5.7.2015 20:01 The Czech Police are facing harsh criticism for the procedure they elected to follow during a recent hate demonstration when, instead of intervening against people carrying mock-ups of gallows and chanting racist slogans, they intervened against those counter-protesting them. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová have joined the criticism of the police.  full story

Czech Interior Minister says police should know a gallows has no place in a democracy

3.7.2015 6:10 Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) is demanding an explanation from police leadership as to why they did not intervene against the participants in the recent demonstration against Islam and migration in the center of Prague who were carrying mock-ups of gallows. The minister said the police must be aware that neither death threats nor gallows have any place in a democracy.  full story

Czech MP holds hate rally with nooses for "traitors" warning of "hordes of horny blacks"

1.7.2015 22:12 A demonstration against immigration and quotas and in favor of the Czech Republic leaving the European Union was held this afternoon on Prague's Wenceslas Square, attended by approximately 700 people. After the opening remarks, protesters headed for the Office of the Government, ending the protest three hours later at around 20:00 CET.  full story

Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved Jewish children from the Holocaust, has passed away

1.7.2015 19:20 Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved more than 650 Czechoslovak children from certain death in Nazi camps, has passed away at the age of 106. The Associated Press reports that Winton's son-in-law has announced the news.  full story

Czech Republic: Anti-immigrant, Islamophobic protest in Prague

1.7.2015 17:41 Several hundred people demonstrated yesterday in Prague against the Czech Republic receiving refugees. Their claim is that the recent decision of the Czech Government to voluntarily receive several hundred migrants is a "dirty trick".  full story

Czech Republic: Study says mandatory preschool could paradoxically worsen Romani children's situations

1.7.2015 5:55 Mandatory preschool attendance could contribute to further stigmatization of Romani children and problems for their entire families. Such attendance will also not make it easier for them to adapt to primary school.  full story