Czech Republic

Renata Berkyová: Gays, hands off the Romani flag!

19.8.2016 17:09 What some Romani people are posting on social networks these days about the topic of sexual orientation has prompted me to respond. The springboard for these heated
debates is the fact that Prague Pride, the parade celebrating people of various sexual orientations, included Romani people this year who proudly raised the Roma flag.  full story

Is Czech folk singer's new song racism or social commentary?

19.8.2016 10:05 Is the Czech folk singer Jaromír Nohavica continuing his previous racism, or is his most recent song actually an apt criticism of society? It's very difficult to unequivocally tell, but Nohavica's previous seriously-intended anti-Romani song should be a warning.  full story

Commentary: Czech Social Democrats compete with ultra-right to see who can be more racist and xenophobic

19.8.2016 8:24 Czech MP Stanislav Huml of the Social Democrats, who is infamous for his extreme positions against Islam or refugees, as well as for his conspiracy theories about 9/11, recently published a video on his Facebook profile denying the Holocaust. He called it "brutal, [politically] incorrect, but inspiring".  full story

Czech Constitutional Court to review town's forced relocation of Romani residents

17.8.2016 12:14 The almost decade-long dispute between the Czech town of Vsetín and the Romani residents whom the town evicted and then forcibly relocated into villages entirely outside of the Zlín Region will now be reviewed by the Czech Constitutional Court. The town of Vsetín has filed a constitutional complaint in the matter.  full story

Czech town rejects ombudsperson's critique, says it did not discriminate against and segregate Romani pupils

16.8.2016 18:51 The Czech town of Krásná Lípa is rejecting criticism from the ombudsperson over the way a "Romani" class has been established at the local primary school. The Public Defender of Rights (ombudsperson) visited the town at the end of May and recommended the local administration take several steps to prevent discrimination in future and reduce the risk that anti-discrimination lawsuits might be filed against it  full story

Czech MP Stanislav Huml shares Holocaust denial video online

16.8.2016 13:21 The weekly Euro in the Czech Republic reports that Stanislav Huml, an MP for the Czech Social Democratic Party, has published a video denying the Holocaust to his Facebook profile. The video, which Huml called "brutal and [politically] incorrect" but "inspiring", is a sort of criticism of the "ethnomasochism" of Western civilization, defined as a feeling of guilt for the historical injustices of colonialism, slavery, etc., including what the video terms the "alleged" Holocaust.  full story

Czech court says police must further investigate ultra-right activist's hate speech about Muslims

15.8.2016 17:20 The Regional Court in České Budějovice has returned the case against ultra-right activist Martin Konvička, who is suspected of inciting hatred against the religion of Islam, back to the public prosecutor. The case was initially returned to the prosecutor by the first-instance court there.  full story

Czech Republic: Gambling magnate and media businessman behind "pay-to-play" journalism

15.8.2016 16:35 The current scandal around South Moravian Regional Governor Michal Hašek (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD), who used public money to buy PR articles in a regional newspaper and in the tabloid Parlamentní listy, has given us a peek behind the curtain at how the media group whose motto is "Nobody dictates what we write" actually works. That same group, Our Media, also owns shares in the pro-Russian website Protiproud, which is run by the former spokesperson for former Czech President Klaus, and in the Praha TV station.  full story

videoVIDEO: Romani Gallery Phundaro Vudar - "Oppression-Depression-Passion"

15.8.2016 13:21 Last week, as part of the Prague Pride festival, the ARA ART organization opened its third exhibition at the Gallery Phundaro Vudar. The exhibition features the work of a young gay Romani photographer, Milan Junek, who does art photography of male nudes.
 full story

videoPrague Pride 2016: LGBT community dances through Prague, Roma in the parade too

14.8.2016 14:56 Yesterday afternoon Prague was the setting for the Pride March of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals that was the high point of the sixth annual Prague Pride festival of sexual minorities. Organizers estimate this year’s attendance at around 40 000.  full story

Commentary: Merkel, refugees, no to terrorism, Echo24 "mooing", Putin has already won

12.8.2016 17:24 This commentary reflects on selected events from this past week in the media. Commentator František Kostlán gives us his take on the news.  full story

Czech celebrity's music video against Islam earns ridicule, but at what cost?

12.8.2016 8:00 Erik Tabery, Editor-in-Chief of the Czech weekly RESPEKT, has commented on the phenomenon of celebrity Olivie Žižková and her music video against Islam, "Europe, Start Breathing" (Evropo dýchej). "We all love videos of people we can laugh at because they are a unique opportunity to feel better. The singer Olivie Žižková and her song 'Evropo dýchej' offer many reasons to feel better in this regard, but it's not really a laughing matter, for several reasons," Tabery writes for news server Respect.cz after Žižková was interviewed by journalist Daniela Drtinová of the DVTV channel.  full story

Commentary: Czech tabloid misinforms public that Romani children in Varnsdorf "don't go to school"

11.8.2016 18:59 After watching a recently televised interview between the journalist Daniela Drtinová and anthropologist Radka Vepřková about the situation in the Czech town of Varnsdorf, I was curious to see what the tabloid news server Parlamentní listy (PL) was publishing about it - and what I found was no surprise. PL once again has produced its own particular interpretation of what was said, this time cherry-picking from the anthropologist's answers and also directly misquoting her.  full story

Roma at Prague Pride festival say sexual minorities are still taboo in their community

11.8.2016 13:17 Part of the ongoing Prague Pride week traditionally is a segment of the program produced by the Romani association ARA ART. This association has long been involved not just in art with an educational and social scope, but also in specializing on the issue of multiple discrimination and working with the Romani LGBT community.  full story

videoCzech Republic: Muslims attend Catholic mass in Prague, condemn violence

11.8.2016 9:59 Approximately 80 Muslims from abroad and from the Czech Republic assembled in front of the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart yesterday evening in the Prague neighborhood of Vinohrady in order to protest against the growing incidence of violence in Europe. To great media attention, some of them symbolically attended mass at the church, which was absolutely full.  full story

Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry responds to the myths now multiplying about social housing

10.8.2016 17:14 The Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry has responded to the distorted information and multiple myths that are currently spreading about the law on social housing. The ministry has published a list of "Eight Delusions" about this law that describes it in detail, including how it will be applied in practice.
 full story

Czech Republic: ARA ART exhibition features art photography of male nudes

10.8.2016 12:32 As part of the Prague Pride week festival celebrating the LGBT community, the ARA ART organization is opening its third exhibition in the series organized by its Gallery Phundaro Vudar. The exhibition features work by a young photographer of Romani origin, Milan Junek, who specializes in art photography including nudes.  full story

Czech Muslims hold public event to condemn terrorism

10.8.2016 10:53 Czech Muslims have decided to make a public, thorough condemnation of the terrorist attacks that have recently shaken Europe and are gathering on Jiřího z Poděbrad Square in Prague today. Their intention is to honor the victims of those attacks and to express their shared concern with other inhabitants of the Czech Republic over the violence in Europe committed by terrorists.  full story

Czech Republic: Amaro Records releases its first two videos by young Romani singers

8.8.2016 17:46 The Brno-based recording studio Amaro Records has been running for three months and has just released its first two video clips. The recordings were made by young Romani singers who got the opportunity to record in exchange for their volunteer work during the construction of the community recording studio.  full story

Commentary: Czech broadcast regulator begins proceedings against TV Prima over report about Klinika social center

8.8.2016 9:40 In addition to its other manipulative reporting about refugees and Romani people, the Prima television channel in the Czech Republic broadcast a manipulative news report this spring about the Klinika Autonomous Social Center in Prague, which provides aid to refugees and the socially vulnerable. The Czech Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) has now issued a press release announcing that it has begun an administrative proceedings with the station over its reportage about Klinika broadcast on 28 May 2016 in its News program.  full story