Politika

Romani community member David Beňák now director of the Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion

2.6.2018 19:16 As of yesterday, the director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion is David Beňák, previously vice-minister for the Human Rights Section at the Office of the Government. He will take over the job after its having been entrusted to acting director Radka Soukupová for the last seven months.  full story

Czech Republic: Conditions for leaving the debt trap may be relaxed

28.3.2018 7:13 The conditions for people in the Czech Republic to leave the debt trap may become more relaxed. The lower house, despite criticism from members of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), has supported the Government's amendments to the bankruptcy law that will make it possible for debtors to enter the debt relief process irrespective of how much they owe.  full story

Czech MP from the far right is a trafficker in poverty

19.3.2018 8:29 Lubomír Volný, an MP in Tomio Okamura's "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) movement and a regional assembly member, has been renting properties for five years to the same impoverished families that the SPD customarily labels as "inadaptables" or "parasites", making money from the very welfare system that the SPD otherwise rejects as costly and dysfunctional. Public broadcaster Czech Television has reported on his business dealings in detail during an episode of Reportéři ČT that aired on 12 March.  full story

Czech anti-immigration activist launches book on the premises of the lower house, ultra-conservatives support it

18.3.2018 10:19 Petr Hampl, the anti-immigration and anti-Islam activist and sociologist, has launched his new book about Islam and the alleged "Islamicization" of society on the premises of the Czech Chamber of Deputies. Hampl is known for having publicly expressed support for the father who filmed himself urging his preschool-aged daughter to hit a pillow with a baseball bat while pretending she was hitting a Muslim or a Romani person, and his book launch was attended by the son of former Czech President Václav Klaus and by other MPs.  full story

Czech Green Party co-chair wants Interior Ministry to dissolve the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" Movement

3.1.2018 10:55 News server Info.cz reported last week that Ondřej Mirovský, co-chair of the Czech Republic's Green Party, has said he wants to ask the Interior Ministry to dissolve Tomio Okamura's "Freedom and Direct Democracy" Movement (SPD). Mirovský made the decision after Okamura invited extremist politicians from all over Europe to Prague.
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Ladislav Body, Romani man elected MP in the former Czechoslovakia, has passed away

27.11.2017 9:34 On Saturday, 26 November 2017 a former deputy to the Czech National Council and to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Ladislav Body, passed away at the age of 68. A relative of his has confirmed this to news server Romea.cz.  full story

Czech Greens call on Prague Vice-Mayor to stop sharing racist video

24.11.2017 12:33 Green Party members from the Žižkov neighborhood of Prague have published an open letter to Vice-Mayor Alexander Bellu (Civic Democratic Party - ODS) asking that he stop sharing a racist video on his Facebook page promoting his project for parking sensors for the Prague 3 Municipal Department. In the stylized video, a comedian tells a joke about "millions" of Romani people waiting near parking spaces for the opportunity to steal a car.  full story

Iveta Bílková: Romani people must vote - it is a citizen's most basic right

6.10.2017 9:05 The elections for the Czech lower house are coming up. The Chamber of Deputies is where decisions are made about how the republic should run, the direction the state should head in, and mainly, where the citizens of this state are headed, including minorities.  full story

Czech folk singer publicly supports ultra-nationalist in runup to elections

29.7.2017 9:00 The chair of the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" movement, Tomio Okamura, has a new supporter. After meeting the famous singer Jaromír Nohavica last Sunday at a shopping center in Ostrava, he posted a photograph of the two of them to online social networks.  full story

Slovak Prosecutor-General files motion to dissolve Kotleba's party

1.6.2017 13:19 The Slovak Prosecutor-General has filed a motion with the court to dissolve the ultra-right Kotleba-Lidová strana Naše Slovensko (Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia,
or LSNS). The party is currently seated in Parliament.  full story

Stano Daniel: Slovak Roma have to let themselves be beaten up now, otherwise the fascists will be elected

30.5.2017 8:00 Among Romani people in Slovakia the feeling is prevailing that the biggest threat to their future is the fascist party chaired by Marian Kotleba. It is quite possible to agree with their sentiment.  full story

Czech Republic: David Beňák is now Deputy Human Rights Minister, his priority is the law on social enterprises

7.4.2017 7:44 David Beňák (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) has become the new political deputy to Czech Human Rights and Legislation Minister Jan Chvojka (ČSSD) on Monday, 3 April. He replaces Marek Ondroušek, who is now moving to the Trade Ministry to be Deputy Minister for Electronic Communications.  full story

Commentary: Paradoxes in the war on political correctness

31.3.2017 21:01 The war against political correctness is a long-term process that was begun in the Czech Republic by ultra-right extremists during the 1990s. Their motive was apparent: They wanted to legitimize racism and xenophobia so their own "politics" would be acceptable to the broadest possible circle of voters.  full story

Commentary: Czech Foreign Minister is all over the map when it comes to the issue of freedom of movement - why?

28.3.2017 11:04 My favorite demagogue, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, is once again shining like a supernova in the night sky. He has declared war on the free movement of persons on the labor market inside the European Union.
 full story

Czech Human Rights Minister meets with management of Hate Free project to discuss its future

16.2.2017 8:21 Czech Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) met on 7 February with the leadership of the Czech Government's campaign against hate violence, Hate Free Culture. The three-year project, scheduled to end in April, combats hate speech and xenophobia as well as refuting fake news and hoaxes, mainly in the online environment.
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Stano Daniel: Fico's the "gypsy", I am a Rom

3.2.2017 9:12 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke about Romani people as "Gypsies" during a debate Sunday broadcast by the TA3 news station. He made his remarks in connection with the fact that businesses in Slovakia are having a problem finding employees.  full story

Civil March for Aleppo crosses into the Czech Republic

9.1.2017 17:24 Hundreds of people left Berlin, Germany at the end of 2016 on a 4 000 kilometer long march to Aleppo, Syria. Those participating will continue through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey to Syria.  full story

Slovak PM targets Roma in his speeches, critics say he should focus on his own corruption scandals

18.12.2016 1:20 Slovak news server Denník N reports that at the most recent convention of the governing Smer party, Slovak PM Robert Fico and his colleagues chose not just a new governing board, but also a new priority - Romani people. Fico gave a harsh speech discussing Romani people as welfare abusers and said he would support the police in their interventions into Romani settlements.  full story

Karel Holomek: Czech Gov't Roma Council has a new chair after cabinet reshuffle

16.11.2016 17:31 Czech Prime Minister Sobotka has replaced two of his ministers, Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček and Human Rights and Legislation Minister Jiří Dienstibier, who was also the chair of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs. The newly-appointed Human Rights Minister is the lawyer and Social Democratic MP Jan Chvojka.  full story

Marcel Ščuka: Romani man's corpse was not properly refrigerated, Czech Police allegedly lost his clothes

13.11.2016 19:46 Marcel Ščuka, a Romani community member who attended Friday's meeting with Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec regarding the death of Miroslav Demeter, a young Romani man, on 18 October in a pizzeria in the town of Žatec, recapitulated what happened at the meeting by broadcasting live through his Facebook profile and revealed some information about the ongoing investigation. Ščuka also called for the establishment of a new Romani political movement.  full story