Czech Republic

Czech expert says child welfare authorities should address discrimination in the schools

26.4.2016 9:44 Klára Laurenčíková, the chair of the Czech Professional Society for Inclusive Education and a member of the Czech Education Ministry's expert team on inclusive education, said last week that she believes child welfare authorities should be more involved in cases of discrimination in the schools. The current Public Defender of Rights, Anna Šabatová, also pointed out that social workers have always been in a position to consult with parents about such matters as part of their jobs.  full story

Czech Senate approves education amendment in full, opponents of inclusion failed to convince them otherwise

25.4.2016 13:44 Last week the Czech Senate adopted an amendment to the law on education in full despite the fact that many reservations to it have been expressed. The vote means that new rules for inclusion in the Czech schools will apply as of September.  full story

Czech Republic: Dozens of educators and students support activist who allegedly assaulted police officer

25.4.2016 11:09 Dozens of educators and students of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) have signed a letter supporting left-wing activist Kateřina Krejčová, who allegedly assaulted a police officer last year while protesting a march by those opposed to migration. In February the court sentenced her to one month in prison, suspended for one year, a sentence she has appealed.  full story

Czech youth who fired gas pistol at demonstration given 200 hours of community service

25.4.2016 8:58 Jiří Borovička, who fired a gas pistol into the air during an anti-immigration demonstration this past February in Prague, was convicted of rioting and sentenced last week to 200 hours of community service and forfeiture of the weapon. The 21-year-old laborer has accepted the sentence and will not appeal, but the state prosecutor is still considering whether to appeal.  full story

Czech Republic: Group of 16 Christian refugees wants to go back to Iraq

23.4.2016 9:14 Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) tweeted on 20 April that the group of 16 Christian Iraqi refugees who wanted to leave the Czech Republic for Germany last week has asked to be returned to Iraq. Chovanec said the ministry would be negotiating with the Generation 21 Foundation, which brought the foreign nationals to the Czech Republic this year, as to whether it could cover the costs of their travel.  full story

Czech online daily wants public prosecutor disciplined for anti-Romani prejudice

19.4.2016 21:38 The online daily Deník Referendum has delivered a motion to Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikán (ANO 2011) asking that disciplinary proceedings be initiated against state prosecutor JUDr. Zdeňka Galková. The editors believe her work for the Prague 1 office has been extremely problematic because the activities of that particular state prosecutor's office clearly have an impact on the republic as a whole, as Prague 1 is the district in the country where the biggest number of political speeches and public activities takes place.  full story

Czech Republic: Seven-year anniversary of neo-Nazi arson attack on Romani family home in Vítkov

19.4.2016 12:09 Seven years ago, during the late night hours of 18 April and the early morning hours of 19 April 2009, four neo-Nazis threw Molotov cocktails into a single-family home in the town of Vítkov (Opava district), where a Romani family was living. During the subsequent blaze three people were injured, including the family's youngest daughter, Natálka, who suffered burns over 80 % of her body before she was even two years old.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani ice hockey player Dominik Lakatoš is rookie of the year

18.4.2016 8:02 Dominik Lakatoš, a talented ice hockey player for Liberec, has been designated rookie of the year by Czech Television's annual "Hockey Player of the Season" survey. Robert Záruba announced the news during half-time of the final match of the ice hockey championship between Liberec and Sparta on 14 April and the awards ceremony will take place on 2 May.  full story

Czech Republic: Handful of neo-Nazis demonstrate in Vítkov to raise money for racist arsonists who attacked Romani family there

17.4.2016 9:50 Just a few neo-Nazis assembled yesterday at a demonstration in the Czech town of Vítkov, where seven years ago during the late night hours of 18 April and the early morning hours of 19 April an arson attack was committed on a home occupied by a Romani family. The neo-Nazis originally invited the public to the assembly by saying they wanted to support the racist arsonists who had committed that particular attack.  full story

Adriana Trejtnarová: Inclusive education must include everything

15.4.2016 20:30 Inclusive education? Yes, but it must include everything and naturally it must benefit the child, as that is what we are after.  full story

Czech Police arrest 16 Iraqi refugees who want to leave the country

15.4.2016 19:08 Another 16 Christian refugees from Iraq who were brought to the Czech Republic by the Generation 21 Foundation and who have been living in Brno have decided to leave the Czech Republic. They retrieved their passports from the Czech authorities and wanted to go to Germany.  full story

ROMEA: The media need more Romani journalists

15.4.2016 17:52 Richard Samko, Patrik Banga, Jarmila Balážová, Iveta Demeterová, Tomáš Bystrý, Rena Horvátová: Their faces and voices are known to the Czech-speaking public from radio and television broadcasts. Each report they do refutes the prejudice that all Romani people "are the same".  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says USA's human rights report about the Czech Republic is correct and factual

15.4.2016 15:13 Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) says the report issued by the US State Department on the state of human rights in the Czech Republic is correct and factual. In the document, which the American authorities publish annually, reservations were expressed regarding the situation of Romani people and the remarks made by political representatives about the migration crisis, including remarks made by Czech President Miloš Zeman.  full story

Czech Republic: Welfare recipients to be banned from playing slot machines

15.4.2016 14:54 The Czech lower house approved new regulations and taxing of gambling on 13 April. The law is one of several measures against gambling and will contribute mainly by restricting who is able to play games of chance.  full story

Czech Republic: Analysis finds online hate rising, adult males perpetrate the most

13.4.2016 13:24 During 2015 a noticeable growth occurred in the amount of hate speech on Czech-language online social networks and other communications platforms such as discussion forums linked to articles on news servers. Those are the results of an analysis produced by the People in Need (Člověk v tísni) called "Hate Speech in the Online Environment and Social Networks" (Projevy nenávisti v online prostoru a sociálních sítích).  full story

Czech Republic: New play by the Theater of the Oppressed at "Festival of Humanity and Solidarity" this Friday

13.4.2016 10:36 On Friday 15 April at 19:00 a new play by the Theater of the Oppressed, called "Lost" (Ztracená), will be performed as part of the "Festival of Humanity and Solidarity" at the Rock Café (Národní 20, Prague). The play was created by a group of people who wanted to produce something on the topic of the refugee crisis.  full story

Czech Republic: Canadian Ambassador attends International Romani Day event, embassy displays Romani flag

12.4.2016 7:09 On Friday 8 April 2016 Canadian Ambassador Otto Jelinek displayed the Romani flag on the building of the Canadian Embassy in Prague to mark International Romani Day. He was joined by David Tišer of the nonprofit ARA ART organization and Adriana Trejtnarová, an intern working on Romani projects at the embassy who is a student at the Czech Agricultural University.  full story

Czech Republic: International Romani Day marred by conflict at Prague restaurant

9.4.2016 7:50 The third annual celebration of International Romani Day in the Černý Most area of Prague, intended to support intercultural coexistence, was marred by an unpleasant incident yesterday. Josef Baláž, a co-organizer of the event, alleges that a waiter employed at the restaurant visited by concert-goers after the performance told him and the restaurant owner that he and his colleagues would not serve Romani customers.  full story

LIVE ONLINE BROADCAST: International Romani Day celebrations at LaFabrika in Prague

8.4.2016 17:24 The Romani association ARA ART and its partners are holding their second annual celebration of International Romani Day, this year with the theme of "Honoring the Invisible." Paťiv (respect) will be paid to young Romani people who are disrupting the entrenched stereotypes that predominate in Czech society about Romani people.  full story

US Embassy in Prague displays Romani flag in honor of International Romani Day

8.4.2016 17:04 The Embassy of the United States of America in Prague has displayed the Romani flag on its building to mark International Romani Day and US Ambassador Andrew Schapiro has released a video in which he expresses his support for the inclusion of Romani people into society and the principles of equal treatment. "The Embassy of the United States in Prague is celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the Roma and their contributions to the world today. On the occasion of International Romani Day we would like to greet all Romani people everywhere and wish them all the best. Bachtalo Romano D‘ives," the Ambassador says in the message.  full story