The Prague 4 district is organizing the fourth annual music event called Romský Bašavel. Roma Bashavel will take place on Friday, August 18, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Novodvorská Cultural Center. The event is moderated by Czech Radio editor Iveta Demeterová and well-known musician and publicist Vojta Lavička.
Lawyers of the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and the Forum for Human Rights (FORUM) filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against the Czech Republic over the death of Roma Stanislav Tomáš during a police intervention in Teplice in 2021. The Czech Constitutional Court rejected a complaint by the organization in April 2023. The case before the court is being conducted on behalf of the surviving family member of the deceased Roma.
A new Internet project in the Czech Republic collects and presents eyewitness accounts of the persecution of the Roma during the German occupation of the country in World War II.
The touching individual fates have been available for a few days at www.romanestimonies.com – both in Czech and in English translation. They are supplemented by historical notes and an extensive glossary.
An interview with the commissioner for Roma minority affairs of the Czech Republic. She is being asked what the state is doing to prevent the recurrence of conflicts between Roma and Ukrainians and wether the Commissioner of the Council of Europe right when she claims that the Roma in the Czech Republic face discrimination.
Recordings of Czech and Slovak Roma victims of the Holocaust are now available in a new database.
Manifestations of Roma against Ukrainian refugees continue in the Czech Republic. Not only due to the few incidents, but also because of the resentment of the Roma who feel that while nothing has been done in the country for them, the Ukrainians are helped more than they ever were.
The position of Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs was established by the government in December 2022 and is independent of political parties. Lucie Fuková, a Romni, is the first one. There are already voices in the Roma community who say “We didn’t vote for you, don’t speak for the Roma! You won’t do anything anyway!”
Her answer is: “So I am the very first person in the Czech Republic to take on this position. In contrast, in Slovakia, the Roma government representative has been operating for many years. I’m only a few months in and I’m building my entire office from scratch – in every way. I have nothing to follow up on. That’s why I spend a lot of time setting up the functioning of the office (people, processes…) and unfortunately I can’t be everywhere.”
Journalist and presenter Alica Sigmund Heráková is the co-founder of Internet television Tuke TV. She says that “The mainstream media only shows Roma people when there is a problem. We have created our own media world,”
A video purposedly showing three Roma beating a Ukrainian in Brno, is a total fake. Yesterday, it came out that the person beaten up was not a Ukrainian, but today, the Brno police confirmed that neither Roma nor Ukrainians were involved.
Total disinformation.
A video of a fights in Brno’s Cejl Street is circulating on the Internet. It shows a young man being beaten by three Roma and the commentary states it is another clash between Roma and Ukrainians.
It turns out that the person beaten up was a foreigner, but not a Ukrainian.
Bad.
Following the two attacks against Roma by Ukrainian refugees, and following a spate of rumours, the Czech government is taking actions against disinformation about Ukrainian targeted at the Roma minority.
Pilsen police officers investigated the suspicion of the kidnapping of Roma children by Ukrainian citizens, which was brought to the attention of a Facebook user. However, according to the police, there was no crime, it was a false report. The police stated that “We dealt with the announcement of the alleged kidnapping of Roma children by Ukrainian citizens in Rokycany. We assure the public that such an event did not occur. We also pay due attention to social media posts. networks that were published in this context”.
Another incident in a run-down housing estate in Krupka, Czech Republic. About 500 Roma manifested in the estate, claiming children had been sexually harassed by foreigners. According to Romea, initially the manifestation was not against Ukrainians, many protested against them.
The parents deposited a formal complaint with the police.
Interestingly enough, the news in the Czech Press do not mention sexual harassment, but rather that the children had been locked up in the cellar by drunk people.
Bad in any case.
An interview with Radka Patočková who is the director of the KHER publishing house. The publisher supports the development of Roma literature in the Czech Republic. In the interview, she that young Roma authors are at a great disadvantage, and bemoans also the downward trend in the use of the Romanes.
An article about the recent attacks against Roma by Ukrainian refugees and the Roma protests that followed, protests that were supported by extremists. On controversial Roma activist, David Mezei, got close to nationalist movements, who, by the way do not want Roma ion the country.
Bad for all.
In his speech at today’s demonstration in front of the Government Office, pro-Roma activist from Ústí nad Labem Marcel Packert criticized the so-called patriots, who are actually extremists, xenophobes and anti-Semites. Packert warned against the dangers of associating these people with Roma.
This week in the Czech Republic, the police has been investigating several reports of other alleged attacks by Ukrainians on Roma. They were supposed to be in Sokolov and Přerov. The police have not yet fully completed their investigation and have not confirmed that all of the attacks actually occurred. There is a lot of misinformation being spread among the Roma, and the police have already charged one person for spreading an alarmist message.
This issue is being misused on purpose.
About seventy protesters, around fifty of them Roma, gathered in front of the Government Office for a demonstration called by David Mezei, a very controversial Romano leade. The participants expressed their disapproval of the current government and the presence of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic. In addition to Mezei, the speakers also included Miroslav Tancoš, the chairman of the Roma Democratic Party, which has suspended its activities, and Denis Novák from the Round Table Alliance.
It is sad to see that some Roma are playing into the hands of extremists following the two attacks in the Czech Republic.
An article on the instrumentalization of the attacks by Ukrainian refugees against Roma in the Czech Republic.
Some 63% of Czechs consider the cohabitation of Roma with other inhabitants of the country as problematic, according to a poll carried out last spring by the Center for Research on Public Opinion (CVVM), the results of which were released on Friday. Nearly 33% of respondents believe that relations with the Roma minority are good.
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