Czech Republic

Open letter from expatriate Roma in England and international organizations to the Government of the Czech Republic

London, 3.8.2013 21:35, (ROMEA) On the occasion of the International Day of the Roma Holocaust, Romani associations and initiatives based in England and elsewhere have sent the following letter to the Government of the Czech Republic in response to growing anti-Romani sentiment there. News server Romea.cz publishes the letter in full translation below:  full story

videoCzech Republic: 200 people at neo-Nazi assembly in Vítkov, minimal police intervention needed

Vítkov, 3.8.2013 20:25, (ROMEA) The 6 000-strong town of Vítkov (Opava district) has experienced only two of the three assemblies that had been announced as taking place there today. Neo-Nazis came to the town and marched through its streets, including past the site of one of the worst racist attacks in the Czech Republic ever.  full story

Czech Republic: Blokujeme! platform says it is blocking racist ideas, not people

Vítkov, 3.8.2013 18:44, (ROMEA) The Blokujeme! platform has issued the following press release:  full story

Czech Republic: Religious service against hatred in Prague 3 August

Prague, 3.8.2013 1:23, (ROMEA) On Saturday 3 August at 19:30 in the Saint Martin in the Wall Church (Martinská 8) in Prague there will be a religious service in support of the people in Vítkov and everywhere else in the Czech Republic who are suffering from increasing intolerance and racism. The service will be led by Magdaléna Šipková, a student of the Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University.  full story

Czech Republic: Non-Roma and Roma from Ostrava express solidarity but will not go to Vítkov tomorrow

Ostrava, 2.8.2013 23:57, (ROMEA) A group of non-Roma and Roma from Ostrava has issued a press release expressing their solidarity with the Romani community in Vítkov and their support for coexistence there, but have decided not to attend the protest events against the neo-Nazis that are scheduled to take place there tomorrow (Saturday 3 August). "We want to prevent conflicts and incidents. We will not play the radicals' game, and therefore we will not participate in their actions in Vítkov," the press release reads. News server Romea.cz publishes it in full translation below.  full story

Amnesty International and ERRC call on Czech Government to protect Romani people

Budapest/Prague, 2.8.2013 23:07, (ROMEA) Human rights organizations Amnesty International (AI) and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) have called on the Czech Republic to protect Romani people from terror and violence. The organizations published their joint declaration in response to the planned anti-Romani demonstrations that await the Czech Republic in the coming days.  full story

Czech town of Vítkov readies for neo-Nazi assembly and events opposing it

Vítkov, 2.8.2013 22:22, (ROMEA) Municipal leaders and police in the 6 000-strong town of Vítkov (Opava district) are preparing for three assemblies scheduled to take place there on Saturday, 3 August. According to online sources, the police, and the Vítkov town hall, neo-Nazis are planning to march in the town, the Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí - SRP), which defends the interests of the socially vulnerable, is planning a street meeting there, and the "Let's Block the Marches!" (Blokujeme!) platform has planned an assembly that has been announced by activists from the Konexe organization.  full story

Czech Republic: Protect Roma at risk of violence ahead of far-right demonstration

Budapest/Prague, 2.8.2013 17:50, (ROMEA) Czech authorities must protect Roma communities from violence and intimidation, Amnesty International and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) said ahead of planned anti-Roma demonstrations across the country.  full story

Czech PM Rusnok honors Romani genocide victims at Lety, says he needs to review UN recommendations about pig farm

Lety u Písku, 2.8.2013 1:49, (ROMEA) Czech Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok and several ministers of his cabinet have paid their respects to the Romani victims of the Holocaust at Lety by Písek. On 1 August 1942, exactly 71 years ago, a concentration camp for Romani people was established there.  full story

Czech Govt working group led by Human Rights Commissioner introduces proposals for addressing social unrest

Prague, 2.8.2013 0:45, (ROMEA) A Czech Government working group to address social unrest was convened by the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner on 1 August. Due to the seriousness of the situation the meeting was attended by Czech PM Jiří Rusnok and Interior Minister Martin Pecina.  full story

Czech Labor Office calls spam e-mail about Romani people "lies and nonsense"

Prague, 1.8.2013 23:10, (ROMEA) Yet another dishonest e-mail is spreading online in which alleged author Jiří Máška describes how Romani people are reportedly "getting rich" by drawing welfare. The hoax e-mail has also been sent more than once to the e-mail address of news server Romea.cz.  full story

Czech Govt Human Rights Commissioner to meet with PM, Interior Minister about social unrest

Prague, 31.7.2013 23:04, (ROMEA) On Thursday, 1 August at 13:00 there will be a meeting of a working group to address the social unrest in the country at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková has called the meeting on the basis of information she has received from the field through the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion.  full story

Czech intelligence service: Ordinary citizens' anti-Romani sentiments more dangerous than right-wing extremists

Prague, 30.7.2013 20:09, (ROMEA) The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (Bezpečnostní informační služba - BIS) has released its quarterly report on developments in the extremist scene on its website. The report says anti-Romani sentiment among a segment of the public could pose a greater problem for state security than small groups of right-wing extremists do.  full story

Czech Republic: Let's Block the Marches (Blokujeme!) platform wants to stop anti-Romani marches

Prague, 30.7.2013 15:33, (ROMEA) Individuals and organizations are demanding that the Government of the Czech Republic, municipal representatives, and other politicians commit themselves to stopping the anti-Romani marches now being regularly organized by neo-Nazis throughout the entire country. Signatories to the declaration are also turning to civil society to stop the marches as well.  full story

Czech Republic: Residents of Plzeň complaining about members of the Romani minority

Plzeň, 30.7.2013 2:58, (ROMEA) In Plzeň complaints regarding coexistence are being registered about some members of the Romani minority. The Czech News Agency says the complaints concern the courtyard inside Plachého and Korandova streets, which is the town's only socially excluded locality.  full story

Central Bohemian Vice-Governor congratulates mother of the Czech Republic's first-ever quintuplets with a check

Prague, 30.7.2013 1:30, (ROMEA) The website of the Central Bohemian Regional Authority reported on 26 July 2013 that the mother of the first quintuplets ever born in the Czech Republic, Alexandra Kiňová, has been visited by Zdeněk Syblík, the Central Bohemian Regional Vice-Governor in charge of social affairs, in order to congratulate her on her unprecedented good fortune. Siblings Alex, Deniel, Martin, Michael and Terezka were born on 2 June 2013 at the Institute for Mothers and Children in Prague-Podolí.  full story

Czech Republic: Sentences in "machete attack" appealed, longest is 16 years

Liberec, 30.7.2013 0:12, (ROMEA) Today the Regional Court in Liberec sentenced three of the five assailants from the "machete attack" case in Nový Bor (Česká Lípa district) for attempted murder, while the other two were convicted of grievous bodily harm and battery. The sentences ranged from three to 16 years in prison.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani man risks life to save infant threatened at knifepoint

Tábor, 29.7.2013 23:04, (ROMEA) Táborský deník (Tábor Daily) reports that Stanislav Kováč of the IMPULS Tábor civic association recently displayed great courage when he stood up to a drunken man threatening adults and children with a long knife in Husovo Park in the town of Tábor. The drunken man walked up to Irena Dzurková as she was sitting on a bench with her daughter and younger brother and asked her for a cigarette.  full story

Czech Republic: Equal Opportunities Party protests neo-Nazi march at scene of 2009 arson attack

Plzeň, 29.7.2013 18:01, (ROMEA) The Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí - SRP) says it is unacceptable for radical militant extremists to march through localities predominantly inhabited by Romani people. The party has issued the statement in response to a series of anti-Romani assemblies and marches being organized by the Czech Lions, a group connected to the newly-established Democratic Worker's Party (Demokratická strana pracujících - DSP) which seems to be profiling itself as a sort of ultra-right People's Militia (Lidové milice).  full story

videoCzech Republic: About 30 neo-Nazis gather in Prague, antifascists counter-protest

Prague, 27.7.2013 0:01, (ROMEA) Roughly 30 right-wing radicals gathered today after 5 PM at the Černý Most housing estate in Prague. The event was organized by a group called the "Czech Lions" (Čeští lvi), who are a sort of ultra-right People's Militia connected to the new right-wing extremist Democratic Workers' Party (Demokratická strana pracujících - DSP).  full story