Another one of theses bad news. Police intervened in a Roma settlement due to a report of shooting and were then aggressed.
Bad.
The Slovene Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar says that Slovenia is one of the safest European countries and that its crime rates are very low. The article goes on to say that “many people are probably left with a bitter taste when they remember the problems caused by Roma in parts of Slovenia or the past epidemic of robberies in Ljubljana by migrants”.
Bad.
Really weird Bulgarian news … A prisoner behind bars in Plovdiv posts a video on TikTok declaring his love for his girlfriend, rapping it in Romanes. Well, mobiles phones are officially not allowed in prisons in Bulgaria … Maybe only if you don’t pay the guards …
Not much this week. A really bad news about a 23-year-old Rom who was arrested for reaping his 13 years old cousin that had been promised to him in marriage. The girl, from Romania, managed to escape and is now under protection. This is really bad as it enforces the stereotypes. Other than that, the extreme rightist Alain Soral who is being investigated for antisemitism is now also under investigations for rabid statements about Roma.
The article depicts what they call the “Italian Sinti mirror scam”. In this case, the Carabinieri were driving, when they noticed two cars pulled over on the side of the road, with their respective drivers in a heated argument. A young 19-year-old – with a criminal record – allegedly ordered the other driver, a 62-year-old, to stop for alleged damage he had caused while driving. He wanted 350 euros, to end it there, refusing to proceed through insurance channels, as the 62-year-old wanted, who was convinced he had not been involved in any road accident.
Residents of the Roam neighbourhood of Fakulteta in Sofia have been protesting against Kiril Kirov – known as Kiro the Japanese. The protestes claim that for years Kirov and his family have been harassing the residents of the neighbourhood, extorting them and forcing them to leave their homes, even to emigrate abroad. According to the protesters, the Japanese’s associates were distributing drugs in the neighbourhood, beating and even raping women.
The police searched the properties of Kiril Kirov, nicknamed the Japanese. The police presence in the capital’s “Faculty” Roma district was increased since early in the morning.
At this point, official information on the case is scarce. The Ministry of the Interior only confirms that there were searches. The reason for them, however, remains unclear. It’s not about drug crimes.
A major police control operation was carried out at dawn by the Rome’s Carabinieri, with the support of the Dog Unit and a helicopter. This control focused on the Roma Camp in Via Candoni, which, according to the article is notoriously known as one of the hotbeds of crime in the capital. The intervention is part of a broader context of the fight against illegal activities, aiming to restore perceived and real security in the surrounding community. The operation involved an important identification action, during which 184 people of Romanian and Bosnian origin were registered, including 42 minors.
When you know that these camps are generally enclosed, and that you need to show you papers entering and leaving, you wonder …
Last week, 40-year-old Elena Sarafanova was killed in the city of Korkino (Chelyabinsk region) — two Roma teenagers were accused of the crime. The next day, pogroms began in the city: angry residents went to the settlement, where the Roma live compactly, and set fire to several houses.
It seems that hatred ran deep, and that residents asked “where to deport them if they have no homeland” …
Police and the Russian National Guard conducted a raid on the night of October 30 in areas of where Roma live in the Gatchina District of the Leningrad Region of Russia. More than 50 men were detained and registered for military service. A “total check” as part of criminal cases on illegal drug trafficking was carried out in these areas. In one of the houses in the village of Novosiverskaya, according to the Russian police, equipment for the production of synthetic drugs and several kilograms of an unknown substance were found in a family of “nomadic people”. In addition, 15 million rubles, two traumatic pistols and a hunting rifle were allegedly seized.
In brife, Russia is looking for cannon fodder and is highlightin Roma as criminals.
The now 40-year-old Bogdan Miklič, a Rom from the village of Stranska vas pri Novem mesto in Slovenia, had a promising career as a journalist at RTV Slovenia, and he is also active in his Roma Civil society. Among others, he was the president of the association Gypsies once – Roma today, and still is the legal representative or president of the Roma Association for Dolenjska.
According to the article, he is nowadays most often seen in court for fraud and theft, and in this particular case, for threatening his farmer neighbour.
Whatever he did, this kind of articles does not further the Romani cause.
Several articles in the Bulgarian press about a police action in Roma settlements in Greece against the “copper mafia”, which steals and trades metals on the black market. According to the police, these are usually Roma gangs, and the target of their raids are copper cables and railway tracks. Catalytic converters are also removed from the cars, which are then sold on the black market for between 400 and 900 euros. The more expensive ones are stolen to order from illegal car repair shops.
Among the people arrested there were Greeks, Bulgarians, and Romanians.
Not much and nothing really good in France about Roma this week. A festival against racism in Toulouse. But figthing rcism with stereotyps is not the best approach. Other than that, residents of a commune near Lyon ask for a Roma camp to be closed. And then, petty criminality: in Alsace and near Nantes.
Another article claiming that the recently release statistics states that in 70% of the cases, Roma are involved in criminal actions. This is a misreading of the statisticts, but clearly a filed day for populists. All stereotypes are there.
Bad.
Another one of those articles. This time, about residents who are “terrorised”, “trembling”, when faced by Roma “Criminality”. Clearly, there is a problem in some neighbourhoods, but such articles will not help solving the issues.
Two articles in the Slovenian press accusing the police of inaction in the face of Roma Crime. In one article, the police denies reports that the police in Kočevje recently locked themselves in the police station after people who were allegedly shot by Roma took refuge there.
A rehash of an old story. It says that 84% of the Greeks involved in theft and burglaries in 2002 were Roma.
Well, other say these are migrants, and so on.
Bad.
Quite a few discussions in the Slovene press of the action of the Ribnica mayor who said he’d not supply drinking water to settlements as long as Roma do not improve their behaviour. Another mayor said that if people believe that denying drinking water in settlements (that by the way, are de-facto illegal) will encourage children to go to school is not understanding anything about the Roma issue. Another article, on the opposite side bemoans the increased criminality of Roma in the country. On the Slovenian TV, a round table on Roma says that Due to the ineffectiveness of institutions in responding to burglaries, robberies, violence and illegal constructions, mayors and residents are increasingly angry. Where did all the millions that the state distributes to all ends for greater inclusion, employment and education of the Roma go?
Bad.
At the request of several Slovenian mayors, the Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar visited the municipalities of Ribnica and Kočevje, where he learned about the events of recent weeks. He promised an increased police presence in areas where the situation is expected to worsen due to “some Roma”.
According to the mayor of Ribnica, Slovenia, there are people who were indicted 17 times but are still at large. This is bad, but what is worse, is that the mayor and the article speaks of Romani crime.
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