Xenophobia

Czech pop music contest says fans of xenophobic band have broken their rules

27.11.2017 17:26 Some fans of the band Ortel, which sings lyrics disseminating hatred and xenophobia, have broken the rules of the "Czech Nightingale" (Český slavík) pop music survey, according to its organizer. When analyzing the votes cast, the organizer has come to the conclusion that the band and its leader, Tomáš Ortel, have received support this year that goes beyond the rules of fair play.  full story

Alena Gronzíková: Romale, don't be lazy, vote! Otherwise Okamura will govern us!

13.10.2017 9:18 There are just a couple of days left before the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic and the campaigns are in full swing and becoming more intense. The current estimates for the outcome, however, are not predicting anything positive.  full story

Jan Horváth: We need a better President of the Czech Republic. Kampel amenge feder prezidentos

26.9.2017 7:39 The highest representative of any state should represent the nation. That means being its protector, its spokesperson, and defending the rights of all its citizens equally.  full story

Declaration against xenophobia signed by 15 prominent figures in Czech town of Liberec

7.9.2017 10:43 On 1 September in Liberec, Czech Republic, the signatories of a statement against disseminating fear of difference and against xenophobia held a press conference to publicize their call to action. The statement criticizes Czech President Zeman and political parties traditionally considered democratic.
 full story

Commentary: Czech politician calls police on American couple - because they're black

28.8.2017 12:59 Earlier this month a local councilor in Hodonín, Roman Sedlačík, caused an uproar by doing something unbelievable. He is a member of the conservative nationalist movement called the "Order of the Nation" (Řád národa), which has become "famous" for making a lot of racist noise, including Holocaust denial.  full story

Analysis: Burkinis once symbolized happiness and health - why do they now mean terrorism?

26.7.2017 11:24 Burkini, burkini, burkini. It's one of the words most used in the Czech language this summer.  full story

Some Czech Internet users outraged by photos of Muslim women swimming in burkinis, facility says no rules were broken

11.7.2017 6:37 The Čestlice Aquapalace in the Czech Republic has become the target of online criticism after photographs were circulated online of two Muslim women swimming there in
burkinis. The management team has responded unequivocally to the obscene, racist and vulgar invective targeting the women and their children by issuing a statement
confirming the women broke no rules by wearing the swimwear.  full story

Slovak Police charge woman with threatening Muslims and Roma through Facebook, she faces six years in prison

18.2.2017 14:21 Slovak Police arrested a 24-year-old woman yesterday who disseminated a video recording of herself through social networks setting fire to a copy of the Quran after tearing it to pieces, urinating on it, and making threats against Muslims. The Slovak woman faces charges of extremism and other felonies.  full story

Slovakia: MP for fascist party criticizes recipients of state honors because of their origins and work

16.1.2017 10:17 Stanislav Mizík, an MP with the fascist party called "Kotleba-People's Party our Slovakia" (LSNS) has criticized Slovak President Andrej Kiska for awarding high state honors to figures such as film director Juraj Jerz and the Czech musician Michael Kocáb. The MP justified his criticism by stating that those honored were of Jewish origin and by disparaging their activities.  full story

Czech historian gets death threats after saying migration is a natural phenomenon

13.1.2017 7:35 News server Lidovky.cz reports that Charles University's Faculty of Arts issued a statement on 10 January publicly backing one of its academics, Matěj Spurný, an historian and specialist in modern nationalism and the history of modern European dictatorships. He became the target of death threats and racist abuse on online social networks after giving an interview to Týden magazine about migration at the beginning of January.  full story

Czech Deputy Ombudsman: We cannot treat people as individuals

12.1.2017 7:44 "Human rights and security are communicating vessels. A person who is not secure is not free. The degree of danger that is now being felt in Europe must have an influence on how human rights are conceived of," the lawyer and Deputy Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček has said in an interview for the Czech magazine RESPEKT.  full story

Firms support much-criticized Lidl chain with funny campaigns against racism in the Czech Republic

6.1.2017 8:56 Apparently few people in 21st-century Czech Republic anticipated what might happen when a chain store used a photograph of a black model in an advertising leaflet. Discussions have been unleased online in which the racist portion of Czech society's "decent consumer patriots" found it necessary to soothe their nerves, so irritated by looking at a dark-skinned model in a Czech (!) flier, by sending to the Lidl chain many calls for a boycott, insults, and vulgarities.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says he will shop at Lidl after racists criticize its use of a black model

5.1.2017 8:45 Czech Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka has expressed support through his Facebook profile for the Lidl chain of stores after a wave of hateful, racist reactions arose online in response to Lidl's use of a black male model to advertise their sports clothing collection. "I have decided to buy some new sports clothes at Lidl Czech Republic. Normally I don't follow flier events, but this time the advertisement rather caught my attention. :-) If I practice, maybe I'll run like Usain Bolt someday," the minister posted to his profile.  full story

HOAX: Video from Prague spreads through Facebook alleging "Islamic refugees" were caught trying to rape a girl

20.12.2016 23:57 On 14 December the administrators of a Canadian website called "Never Again Canada" posted video footage to their Facebook profile that originally came from the Czech Republic and has been viewed 900 000 times, shared 14 000 times, and received 5 000 reactions as of 20 December. The footage shows an argument about methamphetamine followed by an assault on a young woman in Prague.  full story

Czech musician minimizes his neo-Nazi past, but there is proof of his present links to right-wing extremists

20.12.2016 21:24 In a recent interview with radio anchor Zuzana Bubílková, Tomáš Hnídek Ortel downplayed the political significance of his band, Ortel, more than once and was intentionally vague about his own long-ago past and the band's more recent associations. Ortel asserts that he has nothing to do with the neo-Nazi movement today.  full story

Slovakia: Many youth support the ultra-right, study finds

12.12.2016 15:59 Many young Slovaks support the ultra-right party called Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS). Marian Kotleba, the Governor of the Banská Bystrica Region and the party leader, also enjoys great popularity.  full story

Slovakia: Study says failure of mainstream parties supports right-wing extremism

2.12.2016 6:34 The success of right-wing extremism in Slovakia consists to a great degree of the fact that standard institutions and political parties are not fulfilling the roles expected of them, the authors of a study analyzing extremism and nationalism in the country warned on Tuesday. The ultra-right in Slovakia unexpectedly succeeded in the March parliamentary elections this year when the LSNS, the party of the Governor of Banská Bystrice Region, Marian Kotleba, won 8 % of the vote and took 14 seats in the 150-seat legislature.  full story

Radoslav Banga: I walked out of the Czech music awards because Nazism does not belong in public life

28.11.2016 7:58 On Saturday night I left the hall of the theater in Karlín very, very indignantly. Yes, it's true, my wife and I got up during the "Czech Nightingale" awards ceremony, began to whistle, and then left to protest against the award won by the band Ortel.  full story

Romani celebrity walks out in protest after neo-Nazi singer and his band win second place in Czech music awards

28.11.2016 6:16 The results of the "Czech Nightingale" (Český slavík) audience appreciation poll were announced Saturday night in a live broadcast from the Karlín Musical Theater in Prague. Tomáš Ortel of the xenophobic band Ortel won two "silver nightingales", the second-place award in two categories..  full story

Czech xenophobic band Ortel nominated by public again for music award

26.11.2016 9:12 The award associated with the Czech Republic's popular music poll, the "Czech Nightingale" (Český slavík), sponsored by Czech mineral water company Mattoni, will announce its results on live television today, Saturday, 26 November, in Prague. The surprise entry in this year's poll was the nomination of singer Joakim Brodén of the Swedish power metal band Sabaton.  full story