ČTK

Czech Deputy Trade Minister's pay is docked after posting to Facebook that "Gypsies are like jellyfish - poisonous and useless"

15.9.2017 14:43 Czech news server Aktuálně.cz reported yesterday that Karel Novotný, the Czech Deputy Trade Minister who is running for Parliament for the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) in the Ústecký Region, has posted to Facebook the remark that Romani people are like jellyfish because they are, in his opinion, "poisonous and useless".
He will be losing his quarterly salary as a result.  full story

Czech state not signing pig farm contract today after all, money will come from next year's budget

13.9.2017 8:38 After the Czech state signs the purchase agreement with the firm running the pig farm on the site of the former concentration camp for Romani people at Lety u Písku, it will take several months for the money to be transferred, with the state reportedly planning to release the funds by the end of the first quarter of next year. Czech Culture Ministry spokesperson Simona Cigánková announced that information yesterday.  full story

Attorneys for anarchist defendants allege Czech Police instigated plan for unrealized train attack

11.9.2017 7:14 Attorneys representing anarchists charged with planning a terrorist attack on a train in the Czech Republic are seeking their acquittal. The circumstances, according to them, only came about as a consequence of undercover police provocation.  full story

Declaration against xenophobia signed by 15 prominent figures in Czech town of Liberec

7.9.2017 10:43 On 1 September in Liberec, Czech Republic, the signatories of a statement against disseminating fear of difference and against xenophobia held a press conference to publicize their call to action. The statement criticizes Czech President Zeman and political parties traditionally considered democratic.
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European Commission: Number of Roma youth not in school and unemployed in the Czech Republic is rising

5.9.2017 13:03 On 30 August the European Commission published the conclusions from its assessment of how the EU Member States are doing on fulfilling their national Roma Integration Strategies. According to the report, in the Czech Republic the number of Romani youth who neither attend school nor work is significantly increasing.
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Czech Gov't human rights report finds Romani children are still discriminated against in education

1.9.2017 8:18 Children of Romani origin continue to be discriminated against in their access to education in the Czech Republic even after the launch of inclusive measures - while they are no longer being recommended for enrolment into the so-called "special schools", they are frequently taught separately from non-Romani children in "Romani" classes or schools. That is just one finding of the annual report on the state of human rights in the Czech Republic for last year that the Czech Government is scheduled to discuss on Monday.  full story

Czech Republic: Pig farm shareholders to vote again on sale before year-end

24.8.2017 17:39 The Czech News Agency reported on 22 August that after the AGPI firm, which owns the pig farm at Lety, signs the purchase agreement to sell the farm buildings to the state, its shareholders must still agree to the sale at a general assembly. The purchase agreement will then take effect after the new year.  full story

USA: Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, offline after boycott

16.8.2017 15:10 The American website "Daily Stormer", which serves neo-Nazis, is no longer available online. Tech firms have boycotted providing it a domain.  full story

USA: Trump flip-flops after condemning "white supremacists", now talks "left-wing terrorism"

16.8.2017 14:13

US President Trump has once again commented on Saturday's tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia. Now he is saying he believes both "left-wing" and right-wing groups are to blame for the violence during the protest by neo-Nazis and other white racists there against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

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USA: Neo-Nazi website shut down after insulting Charlottesville murder victim

15.8.2017 11:53 The American neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer is experiencing problems after insulting the woman who was killed during Saturday's protests against the white racist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia. GoDaddy, administrator of the web domain, has cancelled its contract and the Google firm subsequently cancelled its registration with them.  full story

USA: Politicians and public pressure Trump to condemn white racists behind Saturday's deadly violence

14.8.2017 15:21 The Associated Press reports that two days after the violence sparked by a rally of white racists in Charlottesville, Virginia, US President Donald Trump is facing strong pressure to condemn the actions of the radical groups that lead to the death of a young woman and the injury of many others. Trump's statement on the violence has just been general and he has demonstrated a cautious approach toward criticizing radical "white nationalists" in the past, leading him to be accused of bias against various ethnic groups.  full story

USA: Charlottesville mayor says Saturday's incident was terrorism, FBI investigating

14.8.2017 12:47

Saturday's incident during which a man drove a car into a crowd of people in Charlottesville, Virginia is being investigated by the FBI. Unrest broke out in the town
that was provoked by two assemblies by white extremists there beginning Friday.

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Czech Police reconstruct murder of Romani man, shooter faces 20 years in prison if convicted

14.8.2017 12:25 Czech Police performed a reconstruction during the night of Friday 11 August of the May murder of a Romani man at a housing estate in the town of Chomutov. The re-enactment involved the 37-year-old man who has been accused of the murder, supervising State Prosecutor Vladimír Jan told the Czech News Agency.  full story

US President fails to explicitly condemn white racists for deadly rally, garners criticism and protest

13.8.2017 18:31 American media outlets are reporting today that the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia yesterday provoked by an extremist "white nationalist" rally is sparking growing resistance there, and President Donald Trump is garnering criticism for his equivocal commentary on it. One person died during the demonstration by the "white nationalists", two State Police officers died when their helicopter crashed as they responded to the rally, and 19 people were injured.  full story

USA: "White nationalist" rally blamed for three deaths and 19 injuries

13.8.2017 8:58 In Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, unrest was underway yesterday because of what US media are calling a "white nationalist" rally during which a terrorist drove a car into a crowd of anti-racist demonstrators, killing one and injuring 19. The clashes began on Friday, 11 August and more scuffles broke out yesterday.  full story

Prague LGBT Pride festival is underway, Roma organizing Hot Chocolate stage at the post-parade party

11.8.2017 8:17 On 7 August, the seventh annual Prague Pride festival celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) persons began with events and exhibitions. More than 100 cultural, discussion, social and sports events were on offer this week, and it will all culminate in the traditional Saturday march through the center of the Czech capital.  full story

Crime prevention assistants from Romani community prove valuable in Czech town

9.8.2017 12:04 The town of Česká Lípa has hired two more crime prevention assistants, raising the number aiding local patrol officers to four, two men and two women. Thanks to good experience with their work, the local council decided to double their numbers, but while last year the jobs were financed thanks to state subsidies, the expansion of the project will be paid from the municipality's own resources.  full story

Czech company accepts state offer to buy pig farm on Roma genocide site

7.8.2017 17:43 The AGPI company is accepting the Czech Government's offer to buy the pig farm in Lety u Písku that is standing on the site of the Protectorate-era concentration camp for Romani people there. Neither side is publicizing the price.
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Czech Republic: Romani mother of quintuplets loses her appeal in suit over funds raised for her family

2.8.2017 6:45 The Czech News Agency reported yesterday that the mother of the first quintuplets ever born in the Czech Republic, Alexandra Kiňová, has not succeeded in suing the "Club of Twins and Higher Multiples" over the way that organization delivered money to her that had been collected for her children by means of a public fundraising drive. Yesterday an appeals court confirmed that it was rejecting her claims.  full story

Czech mayor once praised for Roma integration halts subsidies to part of housing estate, impact on tenants unreported

1.8.2017 12:45 The Czech News Agency reports that following the towns of Děčín, Jirkov and Most, the famous village of Obrnice has become yet another municipality in the Ústecký Region to decide to exploit the recent amendment to the law on aid to those in material distress and to halt the disbursal of housing benefits to addresses in so-called "areas with an increased incidence of socially negative phenomena". The decision specifically affects the inhabitants of at least three prefabricated buildings in the village's local "Nová výstavba" housing estate, but the Czech News Agency does not report what will become of them.  full story