Czech ombudsman attacks ROMEA organization for criticizing racist joke by incoming Chief Public Health Officer

Czech Public Defender of Rights (ombudsman) Stanislav Křeček attacked the ROMEA organization yesterday for having criticized incoming Chief Public Health Officer Pavla Svrčinová for sharing a racist joke on her Facebook profile in October 2020; yesterday afternoon she apologized for having done so. Křeček called the protests against the joke "hectoring" and said he saw nothing racist about it.
After Facebook user Lukáš Belička called news server Romea.cz "racist" for objecting to the joke, the ombudsman responded at 19:30 yesterday with the following message: "Let's not allow ourselves to be 'hectored' by a group of activists who make a living by dividing society. There is no racism in this joke (in the sense of the definition of racism, which is being forgotten)."
"If the person in the joke working from home had been named Josef Novák, would a nonprofit have protested against discrimination against Czechs?" the ombudsman asked rhetorically. Svrčinová shared the joke to her Facebook page in October 2020 and the ROMEA organization tweeted about it as being racist on 4 March 2021 in response to the news that she had been tapped for the post of Chief Public Health Officer.
"Fero Lakatoš robbed his own apartment today. Fero is following quarantine rules and working from home. Be like Fero," read the meme in question, which uses a stereotypically Romani name.
Křeček has long denied the existence of discrimination against Romani people in the Czech Republic - for example, in January he posted to the website of the Public Defender of Rights in response to the Government's draft Roma Strategy for the next 10 years that some Romani people have problems renting housing in the Czech Republic not because of discrimination, but because "a significant proportion of them devastate the housing stock and thereby transform parts of towns into excluded localities." Last month nonprofit organizations warned in an open letter that other remarks made by the ombudsman about Romani people have been unacceptable as well.
Don't miss:
- Incoming Czech Chief Public Health Officer apologizes to Romani people for racist joke
- Brand-new Czech Chief Public Health Officer has a history of anti-Romani racism in her previous public communications about COVID-19
- Petr Mati, social pedagogue, tells Czech Health Minister his communication style about COVID-19 is demotivating
- Czech NGO director tells ombudsman he should resign for refusing to acknowledge discrimination against Roma
- Czech organizations insist the lower house and Prime Minister reject the anti-Romani remarks of the ombudsman
- Czech Public Defender of Rights meets Romani community member Štěpán Kavur of the Buči association
- Alena Gronzíková: Czech landlords will not rent to Roma even with good references and steady incomes
- Czech Deputy Public Defender of Rights says Public Defender of Rights is publicly misrepresenting what she said to him
- Czech Govt Human Rights Commissioner tells ROMEA TV ombudsman is wrong to say Roma not involved with Strategy, removal of his deputy from councils makes no sense
- Czech ombudsman claims his deputy was not appointed to Govt councils, Romea.cz has proof that is not true
- Czech ombudsman removes his deputy from Govt councils after she disagrees with his official comments on the Roma Strategy
- Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion informs ombudsman that 82 % of communities where they work are satisfied
- Volunteer civil society members of Czech Govt Roma Council: ombudsman intentionally undermining the dignity of Romani people
- Czech ombudsman criticizes draft Roma Strategy, rejects idea of updating information about compensation for forced sterilizations
Related articles:
- Chair of Roma Luma party compiles list of Romani people whom he calls "collaborators and traitors", his fellow non-Roma candidate defends ultranationalists
- Czech mayor expelled from STAN party for talking about shooting Romani people put together an independent list for the elections, Christian Democrats have joined it
- Romanian court hands down a scandalous decision: Roma woman who was beaten up by a minibus driver has to pay a fine
- German MEP of Romani origin Romeo Franz: The situation for Roma in Ukraine is shocking, I could not believe Roma live in such conditions in Europe
- CNN: Czech Republic has discriminated against Romani refugees from Ukraine, updated data refute the myth that they all hold dual citizenship
- Czech Police arrest purveyors of disinformation who hatefully threatened refugees from Ukraine, court remands them into custody
- Interview with Romani student at Czech university who aims to become a diplomat
- Emil Voráč: I distance myself from Romani supporters of xenophobic politicians in the Czech Republic
- Czech research finds one-third of Romani refugees from Ukraine have experienced discrimination here, most children are not in education, dual citizenship has not been "abused" by them
- Spain: Vigilantes set six homes of Romani families on fire in an act of collective punishment, but some European media call the incidents "peaceful demonstrations"
- Former Czech MP loses appeal over his hateful call to "get rid of useless people", the original sentence stands
- Hungary's Jewish Community protests PM Orbán's racist speech in which he said Hungarians don't want to become a "mixed-race" nation
Tags:
Extremism, Ombud, Racism, ROMEAHEADLINE NEWS
