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ROMEA TV

Czech NGO asks public to vote on heroes

11 April 2013
2 minute read

Who will be chosen as the greatest hero fighting
injustice, unfair treatment and wrongs in the Czech Republic today? The public
can choose their favorite in the online survey “Anyone Can Be a Hero” (Hrdinou
může být každý) at hrdinou.cz. The project, designed by the NGO League
of Human Rights (Liga lidských práv), is accompanied by a campaign called “Don’t
be a sheep, be a hero” (Nebuď béééčko, buď hrdinou).

Out of 101 figures nominated, a jury has chosen 10
finalists for the public to decide between. “The final 10 stories are very
diverse: The heroes have stood up to the
illegal sterilization of women, to discrimination in the workplace, they have
fought against unfair treatment at the hands of bureaucrats and the courts,
against police violence and corruption,” said the PR manager of the project Martin
Dutkiewič.

The public has until the end of September to vote on
which person’s story is the strongest. They can also take inspiration from
another 100 stories available at the website www.hrdinou.cz. A
collection of these stories will be published in the fall as a book.

The final 10 heroes were selected by a team comprised of
attorney David Zahumens
ký, who is the League’s chair; journalist and patron of the project Ludmila
Rakušanová; Supreme Administrative Court justice Kateřina Šimáčková; Roman
Catholic priest Zbigniew Czendlik; activist Milan Štefanec of the Nesehnutí movement;
and the musical duo and patron of the project, Čokovoko.

On Tuesday 9 April, the campaign linked to the project, “Don’t
be a sheep, be a hero” (“Nebuď béééčko, buď hrdinou”) was launched. Key
components of the campaign are a video advertisement and a website promoting
the idea of combating the “herd mentality” and passivity of Czech society.

“Through this campaign we want to show people that being
a sheep, as the video shows, doesn’t solve anything,” Dutkiewič said. He hopes
that many in the "herd" will recognize themselves and realize that it is not
unrealistic to do something for themselves and those around them.

Over the course of the next seven months, the
campaign will run citylight advertisements and photograph exhibitions in
shopping centers in seven different towns around the country, starting with the
Futurum shopping center in Ostrava. In addition to the online survey, the
project includes public discussions, weekend education seminars, and
exhibitions according to the following schedule: Ostrava in April, Pardubice in May, Plze
ň in June, Mladá Boleslav in July, Jihlava in August, Zlín in September,
and October in Brno. “Anyone can become a hero thanks to our e-learning course
and on-line counseling center,” Dutkiewič said.

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