Czech Republic

Czech MP Karel Schwarzenberg will attend public discussion of the future memorial at Romani genocide site in Lety

22.4.2018 10:31 On Wednesday, 25 April 2018 at 17:00 yet another discussion will take place in the series being organized by the Museum of Romani Culture together with the ROMEA public benefit corporation on the future possible form of the memorial to the Holocaust and its Romani victims at Lety u Písku. The discussion will take place in the cultural hall of the Lety u Písku Municipal Authority.  full story

Czech Public Defender of Rights says police failed in their response to shooting at children's camp

22.4.2018 8:55 The Czech Police, according to the Public Defender of Rights, committed an error in the case of shooting incidents at a summer camp in the town of Jiřetín pod Jedlovou (Děčín district) attended by Romani children from Ida Kelarová's choral ensemble. The police did not visit the camp after the shootings were reported and made light of the situation.  full story

Czech Republic: Stricter conditions for non-bank lenders are clearing the market of fraud

22.4.2018 8:02 The Most regional edition of Deník.cz reports that a stricter law on consumer lending intended to combat illegal loans and usury has been in effect in the Czech Republic for a year and a half now. According to a survey by the Czech Banking Association (ČBA) in February, more than half of people seeking credit turn to companies that are not banks for loans, most frequently borrowing to purchase electronic equipment and other general household appliances.

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71 Czech towns plan to ban housing benefits and make life harder for the poorest of the poor

21.4.2018 8:36 Zones with an alleged "increased incidence of undesirable phenomena" in which new applicants will not be able to receive housing benefits have been announced or are planned for 71 cities and municipalities throughout the Czech Republic. The Institute for Social Inclusion (IPSI) announced the news on 12 April.  full story

Michal Mižigár: So Romani history will not be lost

20.4.2018 17:03 His friends know him by his nickname, "Mižu". MICHAL MIŽIGÁR originally wanted to become a cook, but his life has turned out differently: the 27-year-old graduate of Charles University in Prague today speaks several foreign languages and is studying history in Budapest.  full story

Traditional commemorative ceremony for the Romani victims of the Holocaust 13 May at Lety will launch new award

19.4.2018 9:56 On Sunday, 13 May 2018, the traditional commemorative ceremony to honor the memory of the Romani victims of the Holocaust will take place at the Lety u Písku Memorial. The ceremony is annually organized by the Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust (VPORH).  full story

VIDEO: First-instance verdict in the Chomutov shooting case - 12.5 years

19.4.2018 9:02 The Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem has sentenced 37-year-old Petr Benda to 12.5 years in prison for shooting dead a Romani man behind the wheel of a van last spring at a housing estate in Chomutov. Benda faced as many as 20 years in prison for firing 13 bullets at the van driven by Radek Š.  full story

Norway confirms it will give EUR 1 million to create memorial to Romani genocide at Lety

17.4.2018 10:58 Norwegian Ambasador Siri Ellen Sletner confirmed yesterday at Lety u Písku that Norway wants to contribute one million euro to building a memorial to the Holocaust and its Romani victims at the site of a former concentration camp which until recently was being used for a pig farm. The Museum of Romani Culture, which is managing the remembrance site, has now opened an information center at the Lety municipality about the genocide of Romani people in Bohemia.

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BREAKING NEWS: Czech shooter of Romani man gets 12.5 years in prison

17.4.2018 10:20 The Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem has sentenced 37-year-old Petr Benda to 12.5 years in prison for shooting a Romani man dead behind the wheel of a van in Chomutov last spring. The court ruled that the van posed no danger to anybody at the time of the shooting.  full story

Czech Police arrest two Romani men for attack on police, confirm media exaggerated the incident

17.4.2018 6:32 Police have charged two men in connection with an assault committed against a police patrol in the town of Krupka (Teplice district). Teplice Police spokesperson Daniel Vítek informed the media of the charges on 13 April.  full story

Czech Justice Minister leaving politics because most of his fellow ANO members hold different opinions about human rights

16.4.2018 15:31 Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikán (ANO) will not be in the next Government and is ending his political career. News server Aktuálně.cz published an interview in which he made the announcement on 8 April.  full story

Hundreds commemorate Romani victims of WWII-era camp, criticize Czech politicians for Holocaust denial

16.4.2018 6:57 The Czech News Agency has reported that on 9 April approximately 300 people in the town of České Budějovice joined a commemorative ceremony for the victims of the concentration camp in Lety u Písku. Those assembled held a minute of silence and brought papers with the names of the camp victims and their birth and death dates written on them.  full story

Czech President pushing Czech PM into Government with right-wing extremists

15.4.2018 13:26 Czech President Miloš Zeman has recommended that outgoing Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) continue to negotiate forming a new Government with the Communists and the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) movement. Babiš informed the press of the President's recommendations after meeting him at the presidential residence on 11 April.  full story

Traffickers in poverty in the Czech Republic have a new trick for not losing their profitable business model

14.4.2018 20:34 Real estate speculators in the Czech Republic who charge high rents for dilapidated apartment units in socially excluded localities do not intend to lose their profitable "enterprises". They are selling apartment units in places where local councils have decided not to disburse housing benefits to their impoverished tenants and are buying other units in localities where the state housing benefit is not limited.  full story

Czech media again exaggerate assault incident, promote antigypsyist stereotypes

14.4.2018 19:00 Media in the Czech Republic keep reporting increasingly higher and higher numbers of Romani people who are alleged to have assaulted a police patrol in the town of Krupka. The incident happened Tuesday evening when a two-member patrol of a female and a male officer were addressing a traffic accident.  full story

Gallery in Czech capital to host discussion about new memorial commemorating the Romani genocide

13.4.2018 16:30 On Wednesday 18 April at 18:00 the VI PER Gallery is holding a discussion entitled "Building the memorial at the site of the former concentration camp at Lety". The aim of the discussion is to answer questions about the arrangements for the site of the former concentration camp and its new memorial.  full story

Czech Labor Inspection discovers highest numbers of discriminatory want ads in four years

13.4.2018 12:48 News server iRozhlas.cz reports that despite very low unemployment levels, the State Office of Labor Inspection in the Czech Republic has reported a record-high number of discriminatory want ads in which employers a priori exclude either foreign nationals or Romani people from applying. The number of such ads was the highest it has been since 2014.  full story

US Ambassador hangs the Romani flag at the US Embassy in Prague

10.4.2018 18:58 As in previous years, the Embassy of the United States of America in Prague hung the Romani flag on its building to mark International Romani Day (8 April). US Ambassador Stephen King hung the flag from the window of the Embassy on the afternoon of Monday, 9 April.  full story

Czech Foreign Ministry flies Romani flag, outgoing Foreign Minister and Justice Minister meet with Roma

10.4.2018 8:46 On the occasion of International Roma Day, the outgoing Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Martin Stropnický and outgoing Justice Minister Robert Pelikán met at the Czech Foreign Ministry on 9 April 2018 with several Romani figures. The main subject of the meeting was support for the Romani minority and improvement of interethnic coexistence and tolerance between the majority society and the Romani minority in the Czech Republic and the international context.
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videoCzech Republic: Romani students send video message for International Romani Day

10.4.2018 7:31 During the fifth BARUVAS meeting at the end of March in Týnec nad Sázavou, Czech Republic, 22 students in different areas of secondary education filmed a video with a strong message. The clip was published by news server Romea.cz on the occasion of International Romani Day (8 April).  full story