František Bikár

Germany: Wife of WWII-era Nazi has failed to show up for prison after conviction for inciting hatred

9.5.2018 7:50 An infamous German Holocaust denier, 89-year-old Ursula Haverbeck, was sentenced last year to two years in prison for inciting hatred. She has yet to set foot in jail.  full story

Czech Police apprehend youth who desecrated Romani genocide memorial with pig's head

8.5.2018 6:50 Detectives in Písek have managed to solve a case from February involving somebody placing a pig's head at the memorial to the Holocaust and its Romani victims in the community of Lety u Písku. Detectives initially worked with a minimum of information, thoroughly investigating each clue and minor detail until they accessed more specific information for assessment.  full story

videoMEP Soraya Post for ROMEA TV: Antigypsyism exists everywhere in Europe

29.4.2018 8:51 According to Romani MEP Soraya Post, antigypsyism and discrimination against Romani people are a problem in every European country. In Sweden, where she comes from, the general living conditions for Romani people are, in her opinion, much better than in Bulgaria, Hungary or Romania.

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videoCzech MEP Zdechovský for ROMEA TV: Romani projects must have concrete outputs like the Romani scholarships do

29.4.2018 7:29 According to Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský (Christian Democrats - KDU-ČSL) the main aim of the EU Roma Week, which began on the occasion of International Romani Day in Brussels, is to familiarize the larger public with the Romani community. "Many people have Romani neighbors, but they know nothing about Romani culture. I believe that's a shame," he said in an interview for the Romani internet television station ROMEA TV.  full story

videoEP Vice President Lívia Járóka for ROMEA TV: There are more Romani MEPs than people realize

28.4.2018 11:02 "Our biggest challenge is to keep our children in the best education," said Lívia Járóka, first-ever Roma Vice President of the European Parliament (EP), in an interview for the Roma internet television station ROMEA TV. Speaking in Brussels during EU Roma Week, the EP Vice President said that her biggest success to date has been the adoption of the European Union's Roma Strategy.

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videoRoma Week at the European Parliament: 40 young Roma discuss antigypsyism with MEPs

27.4.2018 8:07 Activists, experts, organizations working to combat persistent hatred of Romani people in Europe, and politicians have finished the third annual Roma Week at the European Parliament and other EU institutions, which began on 8 April 2018, International Romani Day. According to the organizers, the aim of Roma Week is to bring together Romani activists, experts and youth from the European states in order to contribute to developing a European strategy against antigypsyism and to discussing options for addressing the situation of Romani people throughout Europe.  full story

videoMichal Miko to the Czech Regional Development Minister: Live in a container yourself and then we'll see what you think of it

21.4.2018 11:51 The proposal of the Czech Regional Development Minister to build 55 000 "container" units of housing has outraged various civic activists. Michal Miko, project coordinator for the Slovo 21, z.s. NGO, has taken an unequivocally negative stance on the issue: "The fact that the Government wants to adopt a law making it possible to build 'container' apartment units is unacceptable to me as a civic activist."  full story

Czech Republic: Theme of International Romani Day celebrations this year is Romipen

2.4.2018 7:06 On Sunday 8 April International Romani Day will be celebrated in the Czech Republic for the 18th time. The Prague celebrations will last three days and are being directed by the ART ART organization  full story

Czech Govt to build 55 000 "cells" for the poor, Platform for Social Housing says thousands of new ghettos will result

30.3.2018 20:28 According to a new proposal from the Czech Regional Development Ministry, the Czech Government wants to build a new type of accommodation for the country's impoverished inhabitants, so-called "social homes". There could be as many as 55 000 "cells" involved.

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Czech city names first-ever public place after Romani figure

29.3.2018 12:36 The City of Brno is the first to name a public location in the Czech Republic after a Romani figure. On 27 March the name of the Hvězdička Park was officially changed to Eugen Horváth Park.  full story

videoCzech Republic: Pigs finally leave Romani genocide site

17.3.2018 8:28 On Thursday, 14 March 2018, at 8:18 AM a truck drove away with the last 150 pigs from the farm in Lety that is located on the site of the WWII-era concentration camp for Roma at Lety. The AGPI firm, which owns the pig farm, transported the 330 animals left that day away from the grounds.  full story

Czech Justice Minister: State has no solution for social exclusion, Romani children not on an equal footing with others

13.3.2018 6:18 Speaking in an interview for ROMEA TV, Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikán (ANO) said the state has not yet managed to introduce even a hint of a solution for addressing the problems that arise in socially excluded localities. "This is a big problem for the people living in such localities, but it is also a problem for those living nearby," he said.  full story

videoCzech Republic: Mayor of Brno joins march against denial of the Holocaust of the Roma

16.2.2018 8:04 Romani residents of Brno organized a march against denial of the Holocaust of the Roma on Thursday, 15 February calling for the memory of Romani victims to be honored. The main reason for the initiative is to take a stand against remarks by representatives of the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" party (SPD) about the concentration camp at Lety.  full story

Slovak President Kiska discusses Romani settlements and Interior Ministry's plans for repression

31.1.2018 6:53 Slovak President Andrej Kiska organized a public panel discussion on the subject of including Romani people into society on Thursday, 26 January at the Evangelical College in Prešov that aimed to point out that verified solutions exist to some of the most essential problems in this area. The discussion also aimed to describe the genesis of the current state of affairs in connection with the planned repressive measures to be undertaken by police.  full story

Czech MP marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day by doubting what happened at Romani genocide site

30.1.2018 7:08 The Czech Museum of Romani Culture is asking that Czech MP Tomio Okamura, a vice-chair of the lower house, publicly apologize for his remark about the WWII-era concentration camp for Romani people at Lety u Písku. In an interview for the online DVTV television channel on Saturday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Okamura referenced a book that he alleged has described the camp as having not been fenced and people being free to come and go from it.  full story

New Zealand grants asylum to family from Czech Republic with non-Romani and Romani members because of neo-Nazi death threats

29.1.2018 18:24 Radio New Zealand reported today that a woman and her three sons have been awarded political asylum in New Zealand because they faced death threats from neo-Nazis in their home country of the Czech Republic. The father of two of the boys is Romani, their adopted brother is also Romani, and according to their mother, who is not Romani, her children have faced, among other things, discrimination in education because of their ethnicity.  full story

Czech city chooses streets where housing benefits are now banned for new tenants

1.12.2017 7:50 According to an amendment to the law on aid to those in material distress, municipalities are now able to define zones where housing benefits should not be awarded to residents. One of the many towns anticipating that it can use this option to halt an influx of impoverished families is Ústí nad Labem.  full story

Romani residents of Czech town, evicted during reconstruction, cannot find landlords to rent to them

24.11.2017 14:56 By the end of March 2018 the town of Děčín will have evicted all of the tenants residing in a building that was once a primary school. Despite the fact that the condominium apartment units are municipally-owned, the tenants are being forced to leave without being offered any replacement accommodation.  full story

video"Europe: Which Children Matter?" Discussion in Ostrava on 17 November about Roma segregation in education

18.11.2017 11:35 On 17 November at the PANT studio in Ostrava the documentary film "Europe: Which Children Matter?" was screened, followed by a discussion with human rights activist Gwendolyn Albert, activist and researcher Lucie Fremlová, director Jenne Magno, activist Edita Stejskalová, and Ostrava residents involved with the production of the film about Romani children's access to mainstream schools. News server Romea.cz broadcast the discussion live and the recording of it is above.

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Czech court holds trial of man who threatened Romani children with gunfire at summer camp

1.11.2017 12:56 Last week the District Court in Děčín opened the trial of the shooting and vulgar verbal assault committed against children participating in the Čhavorenge children's choir ensemble, directed by Ida Kelarová, in the Děčín area in August 2016. The trial was scheduled after the defendant, Martin Kout, objected to a court order finding him guilty of rioting.  full story