Czech Republic

Czech Republic: Trial to start in case of violent death of a Romani man at the hands of police

Kynšperk nad Ohří, 25.1.2014 17:04, (ROMEA) Here in the Czech Republic, the media in general and this news server in particular are often criticized for reporting too often on racially-motivated crimes committed against Romani people. The following example shows that this is not always the case, as there are many such cases that quickly fizzle out without the media following them at all.  full story

Czech Republic: Trial of brutal interethnic assault in Duchcov to start

Ustí nad Labem, 25.1.2014 15:48, (ROMEA) In February the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem will begin trying the case of a brutal assault perpetrated last year in the town of Duchcov (Teplice district). Judge Markéta Morkusová informed the Czech News Agency of the planned trial yesterday.  full story

Czech MP visits convict doing time for racially motivated murder

Prague, 25.1.2014 10:32, (ROMEA) Czech MP Tomio Okamura, chair of the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit přímé demokracie) movement and its vice-chair, Jaroslav Novák, visited Vlastimil Pechanec today in prison in Pardubice. Pechanec was convicted of perpetrating the racially-motivated murder of Ota Absolon, a Romani man, in 2001 in Svitavy.  full story

After an eight-year break, Czech Labor Ministry to follow up on excluded localities research

Prague, 25.1.2014 0:20, (ROMEA) After an eight-year hiatus, the Czech Labor Ministry has announced it wants to repeat its research into so-called excluded localities. The ministry wants to determine whether ghettos in the Czech Republic have changed and whether there are more of them.  full story

Notorious Czech antigypsyist says she's leaving politics

Chomutov, 22.1.2014 22:42, (ROMEA) Ivana Řápková, a former mayor of Chomutov and former MP, resigned from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) last Friday. Yesterday the daily Chomutovský deník reported she resigned because of long-term internal disagreements in the party.  full story

Czech Republic: 47 charged so far over anti-Romani unrest in České Budějovice

České Budějovice, 22.1.2014 15:49, (ROMEA) Police have so far charged 47 people in connection with last year's unrest at the Máj housing estate in České Budějovice. Some have already been given suspended sentences.  full story

Markus Pape: Freedom of speech vs. promotion of violence

Prague, 21.1.2014 22:08, (ROMEA) Freedom of speech is a basic human right. If it is violated, that can endanger the protection of other human rights.  full story

Czech suspect says Romani victim must have stabbed himself to death

Ústí nad Labem, 21.1.2014 0:09, (ROMEA) The Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem began hearing testimony on 20 January 2014 in the case of Stanislav Sýkora, who faces charges of racially motivated grievous bodily harm. Sýkora has testified that he is not guilty and that he believes the Romani victim caused his own injuries, of which he later died.  full story

Jarmila Balážová: New ministers could change Czech perceptions of gender and minorities

Prague, 20.1.2014 23:12, (ROMEA) We finally have the names of the cabinet to be led by incoming Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. This means the strange double-government situation in this country will soon be over, one that has made it very difficult for the average citizen and the public in general, who directly elected a President and deputies to the lower house, to figure out who is basically doing what, especially what the outgoing, Zeman-appointed cabinet has abolished, approved, negotiated or reallocated.  full story

Czech town tries to prevent panic and anti-Romani demonstrations

Příbram, 20.1.2014 22:07, (ROMEA) Last Friday a meeting was organized by the town of Příbram which aimed to respond to a recent petition circulating there called "For a Safe Příbram" which was authored by local resident Lenka Synková and has been signed by several hundred people. When asked why she wrote the petition, Synková said:  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister: Help, not populism, for the socially excluded

Prague, 20.1.2014 19:28, (ROMEA) Jiří Dienstbier is slated to become the next Czech Human Rights Minister. He says he would like to change the fact that same-sex couples are discriminated against in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech Republic: Secret neo-Nazi concert in Prague cancelled

Prague, 19.1.2014 20:41, (ROMEA) The organizer of yesterday's secret concert by neo-Nazi bands Summer Heroes and Violence Station at Prague's Na Slamníku restaurant ultimately cancelled the event before it even began. Police expected approximately 100 people to attend, but only 50 showed up.  full story

Czech Republic: Neo-Nazi bands play secret concert in Prague

Prague, 19.1.2014 0:33, (ROMEA) The Antifa.cz website reports that the neo-Nazi bands Summer Heroes and Violence Station are scheduled to perform this evening in a secret concert at the Na Slamníku restaurant in Prague. The choice of venue is shocking, as the pub has previously been understood as a place for punk or rock music concerts that share a certain esprit du corps with the underground music era during communism, not with neo-Nazism.  full story

Czech director accused of xenophobia threatens critic with violence

Prague, 17.1.2014 23:14, (ROMEA) News server iHNED.cz reports that Czech Radio will be broadcasting a segment of its "Zaostřeno" ("In Focus") program this Saturday in which director Filip Renč tells Kamil Fila, a film critic with the RESPEKT weekly, that he'd like to "break his jaw". Renč did not like Fila's critique of the way Renč depicts foreigners in the television serial "Sanitka 2" ("Ambulance 2").  full story

Candidate for Czech ombud moderates his anti-Romani stance

Prague, 17.1.2014 22:18, (ROMEA) Social Democrat Stanislav Křeček, who has been proposed by Czech President Miloš Zeman as a candidate for the post of Public Defender of Rights (ombud), is now attempting to moderate anti-Romani statements he published last August on his Facebook profile. "I could have held back," he has told news server Lidovky.cz.  full story

Czech Labor Minister will be Michaela Marksová Tominová

Prague, 17.1.2014 18:06, (ROMEA) The next Minister of Labor and Social Affairs is probably going to be Michaela Marksová Tominová, who until now has been the spokesperson for the Czech Social Democratic Party's (ČSSD) shadow government on issues of human rights and the family. Bohuslav Sobotka, the incoming premier and ČSSD head, has announced that he has decided to appoint her to his government.  full story

Markus Pape: Czech Republic's most serious racial attack of 2013 on trial

Teplice / Ústí nad Labem , 17.1.2014 0:52, (ROMEA) Next Monday the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem will review the most serious case of racially motivated violence to have occurred in 2013. During the celebrations around the opening of the spa in the town of Teplice, a non-Romani man working at an outdoor sausage stand seriously injured several Romani youths with a knife before stabbing a random Romani passer-by to death directly in front of the Teplice town hall.  full story

Commentary: Czech trial of police president shows state attorney not independent

Prague, 16.1.2014 23:56, (ROMEA) The recent trial of Czech Police President Petr Lessy unfortunately has once again demonstrated the inability of the state attorney to proceed independently. I personally consider Lessy to be incompetent and to bear his share of the blame for the very poor reputation of the police, who constantly face criticism from human rights activists; despite this, I cannot agree with his being convicted without evidence.  full story

Czech Republic: Trials continue in Duchcov scandals

Duchcov, 15.1.2014 1:55, (ROMEA) Scandal #1: Revenge attack against those organizing anti-Romani demonstrations  full story

Commentary: In defense of Ivana Čonková

Ústí nad Labem, 15.1.2014 0:48, (ROMEA) I disagree with most of the opinions expressed in the piece entitled "Commentary: Some Romani activists are spreading anti-Romani sentiment", which has recently been published on Romea.cz. In that article the author attacks in an ugly, sometimes chauvinist, and vulgar way an activist from the Konexe association, my friend Ivana Mariposa Čonková.  full story