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News server Romea.cz. Everything about Roma in one place

Czech presidential candidate would be tough on racists and on the Romani community

22 October 2012
1 minute read

Vladimír Dlouhý, one of the candidates for president in the Czech Republic, has addressed extremism and the topic of Romani people in his “presidential questionnaire” for news server iHned.cz. The question asked by the editors was:

“Q: What three steps would you try to take in order to address the problems of residents in regions such as the Šluknov district, for example?”

“A: If you mean the Romani issue, then I would like to raise awareness among people about the following facts: I would proceed much more harshly against every manifestation of extremism with an anti-Romani, racist subtext. It is intolerable that a skinhead youth who physically terrorizes Romani people can then sit in court as if he is a clean, contrite, decent guy, with his weeping mother sitting behind him and a well-paid lawyer beside him, and fight the sentencing down to the bare minimum.

On the other hand, I would proceed just as harshly against the Romani community and I would warn its representatives that unfortunately, more and more people justifiably view Romani people as the bearers of crime, as parasites on the social welfare system, and as neighbors next to whom ‘one cannot live’. I would demand they take responsibility for this, that they take further steps, and I would warn them that the same laws and rules must apply to Romani people as apply to everyone else.

Last but not least, I would ask all of society to be patient. We simply will not resolve the Romani issue in the short term.”

The full article (in Czech only) can be read here: http://zpravy.ihned.cz/politika/c1-56569580-prezidentsky-dotaznik-vladimira-dlouheho-byl-jsem-a-budu-priznivcem-jaderne-energie?utm_source=mediafed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mediafed

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