News

Chair of the Pirate Party in the Czech Republic: It's normal to oppose Fascism and racism

26.9.2018 10:29 This is getting a little boring, don't you all think? As always, before the elections, so this year too there are "sensational" photos being republished of me carrying an Anti-Fascist Action (AFA)flag and wearing Good Night White Pride (GNWP) paraphernalia - as if it is somehow wrong to be against racial superiority and racism.  full story

Czech Republic: Eva Davidová, an ethnographer who loved Romani people, has passed away

26.9.2018 7:34 On Friday, 21 September, at the age of 85, Eva Davidová passed away. She was an art historian, ethnographer, photographer and also a sociologist who had dedicated herself since the mid-1950s to systematically studying the culture and lifeways of Romani people in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia.
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A quarter of a century ago, 18 racists hounded a Romani man to death; the Czech courts convicted just three

25.9.2018 19:14 Tibor Danihel, a Romani resident of the Czech town of Písek, was just 17 years old when, on 24 September 1993, a group of neo-Nazis chased him into the Otava river, where he drowned. The subsequent trial of the culprits was a complicated journey from first-instance acquittals for almost all the defendants to an eventual ruling, for three perpetrators, of prison sentences without the possibility of parole.  full story

Czech movement calling itself "Decent People" fined for disrupting theatrical production

25.9.2018 9:55 Members of the "Decent People" (Slušní lidé) movement have been fined a total of CZK 126 000 [EUR 4918] for their disruption in May of a Czech-language theatrical production of a play called "Our Violence, Your Violence". The Brno-střed Municipal Department has ordered 25 people be fined for contributing to what has been identified as misdemeanor behavior.  full story

Slovak PM on Romani settlements: Incentivize employment, no tolerance for disorder

24.9.2018 7:48 News server WebNoviny.sk has reported that at last week's cabinet session in the town of Svidník, Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said he does not intend to tolerate disorder in the country's Romani-inhabited settlements. The PM is demanding proposals from cabinet ministers on how to ensure security and uphold order and what he called "decent behavior" in the settlements.  full story

Lucie Fuková: There's no excuse for not voting

23.9.2018 7:00 I still remember the moment I went with my parents to cast a ballot in an election for the very first time - we all got dressed up and left the house together as a family. It was an important day for us.  full story

Russian social network blocks "Miss Hitler" beauty contest after Israeli media contact

22.9.2018 9:56 The news server timesofisrael.com reports that Russia's online social network Vkontakte (VK), which is similar to the US-based social network Facebook, has blocked a page dedicated to Adolf Hitler that was hosting an online beauty competition called "Miss Hitler". Hundreds of people voted online in the contest and, according to the Hadashot television station in Israel, it was participated in by contestants from Germany, Italy, Russia and the  full story

Roman Bílý: Decisions are made about Roma without us, that's why we are running for office

21.9.2018 7:39 More than 150 Romani candidates are running in the local elections on 5 and 6 October. News server Romea.cz is profiling those whom we believe have the biggest chance of success because they are running in leading spots on the candidate lists of registered movements and political parties.  full story

Ján Bajger: Roma in the Czech Republic don't vote because they underestimate themselves

20.9.2018 8:50 More than 150 Romani candidates are running in the local elections on 5 and 6 October. News server Romea.cz is profiling those whom we believe have the biggest chance of success because they are running in leading spots on the candidate lists of registered movements and political parties.  full story

Slovakia now has an MP from the Romani minority, Štefan Vavrek

19.9.2018 9:14 Wire services report that Slovakia's unicameral legislature has just seated a new MP. After MP Edita Pfundtnerová (Most-Híd) relinquished her seat in order to become a state secretary at the Justice Ministry, Romani community member Štefan Vavrek has now replaced her.  full story

Czech Inspector-General prosecuting two police officers for torturing Romani man into a false confession

18.9.2018 6:38 The Czech General Inspection of Security Forces (GIBS) is currently prosecuting two police officers from the city of České Budějovice. They have been charged with torturing a 32-year-old Romani man, threatening him and forcing him to confess to a crime he did not commit.  full story

Monika Mihaličková: Soske ME DŽAV?! Let's contain this political cesspool!

17.9.2018 9:49 Half-truths and lies continue to be spread about Romani people in the Czech Republic. When it comes to politics, the rumor is that Romani people do not vote or that they do not want to get involved in politics.  full story

Czech court hears accused assailants of African man deny they racially abused him in any way

16.9.2018 9:29 Fans of the Sigma Olomouc football team have testified in court and denied racially abusing and assaulting a dark-skinned passenger on a tram in Prague last year as they were traveling to a match. The defendants admitted to witnessing the conclusion of the incident, but described the passenger as having threatened another fan.  full story

Czech convicted of racially-motivated murder of Romani man is running for mayor

13.9.2018 21:41 News server Novinky.cz reports that Vlastimil Pechanec, the convicted murderer who spent 13 years in prison for the racist murder of a Romani man named Otto Absolon at a discotheque in the town of Svitavy, is now running in the upcoming local elections as the leader of a movement calling itself "For a Safe Svitavy" (Za bezpečné Svitavy) as a candidate for the Workers Social Justice Party (DSSS), of which he is a member. Pechanec was sentenced in 2003 to 17 years for the 2001 murder.  full story

Romani Rose: Society must condemn antigypsyism just as it condemns antisemitism

13.9.2018 11:09 Romani Rose comes from a well-respected Sinti family in Germany. During the Second World War, 13 of his relatives died in the concentration camps and others survived forced labor, imprisonment, life in illegality and being subjected to medical experiments, later giving testimony about their suffering.  full story

The bells in Ukraine are tolling for the Roma

13.9.2018 10:30 Bloody pogroms and systematic human rights violations committed by members of state-tolerated extremist organizations against Romani encampments have sparked an exceptionally strong reaction recently from international institutions and politicians. These figures are calling on Kyiv to make these racist groups illegal and to take strong action against them.  full story

Czech PM chairs Govt Council on Roma, civil society members demand more Romani involvement, less paternalism

12.9.2018 14:21

The Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs addressed several points yesterday at its fourth session this year, during which the civil society members of the council stressed the need to place greater emphasis on community work and involving Romani people themselves in problem-solving; the need to cancel the disbursal of welfare benefits in vouchers instead of in money; and reiterated their refusal to approve the Czech Government's Report on the State of the Romani Minority 2017 as a gesture of their disagreement with the fact that fulfillment of the Romani Integration Strategy is failing because many measures are not being implemented. The meeting was led for the first time by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who chairs the council.

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videoRacists and populists will not stop us! ROMEA launches crowdfunding campaign to support news server Romea.cz

11.9.2018 7:54 The ROMEA organization and Karel Janeček's Endowment Fund (Nadační fond pomoci Karla Janečka) are launching a crowdfunding campaign to support the work of news server www.romea.cz. The campaign called "Romea.cz - Racists and populists will not stop us!" (Romea.cz - Rasisté ani populisté nás nezastaví!) was launched on 10 September and will run until 10 December 2018.  full story

Czech local elections see at least 150 Romani men and women running

10.9.2018 14:20 At least 150 Romani candidates are running in local elections this autumn in the Czech Republic for seats on city councils and local assemblies. Voting will take place on Friday, 5 October and Saturday, 6 October in more than 6 200 municipalities where more than 200 000 candidates are competing  full story

Slovakia: Girl from impoverished Romani family wins race running in flats

8.9.2018 7:08 Annamárie Horváthová, a pupil from an impoverished Romani family, has drawn attention and expressions of sympathy from the public in Slovakia after winning a race in which, unlike her competitors, she was wearing just flats. A co-organizer of the competition has found a sponsor who has now given the girl new running shoes and socks.  full story