Tag Archives: Police

Greece News Western Europe

Greece: New Police Unit

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Greece: New Police Unit

The Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoïdis has announced two new shock measures: a ban on public concerts in the Exarchia district of Athens and the creation of a specialized police unit to combat crime among Roma communities. The minister cited very high crime rates. “This situation must end. These groups are responsible for a large number of crimes: drug trafficking, fraud, burglaries, robberies… And it is the residents of the affected areas who are paying the price.”

According to him, the unit is already operational, with a structure, a hierarchy, ongoing investigations, and identified individuals. “Our objective is clear: to dismantle these networks. This is a personal commitment, first to myself, but also on behalf of the police.” This has been going on for decades, it’s time to put an end to it. But to do so, we will need everyone’s commitment.”

Bad.

News Switzerland

Switzerland and Travellers

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Switzerland and Travellers

Another article in the Swiss press about 200 policemen stopping 42 caravans and ca. 150 French Roma on a highway, forcing them to turn back, this in spite of not having done anything illegal.

The police de facto blocked the highway for 7 hours!

Shame.

News Switzerland

Switzerland and Travellers

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Switzerland and Travellers

The police of the canton of Valais stopped a convoy of 42 caravans and around 150 Roma on the highway. They had no right to do so, as they had not done anything wrong. The Roma had to turn around and go back to the Canton of Nechatel.

Shame.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Bad Reporting

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Slovenia: Bad Reporting

A story which is symptomatic of what is going on in Slovenia right now. A Slovenian social worker’s car was pelted with stones while passing a Roma settlement in the Doljenska region. They reported it to the police. In the end, he got a fine for violating public order.

Why? Because during the altercation, he told one of the children to go f•ck yourself, you monkey.

What really happened will never come out, but the article says that Roma can do whatever they want, and ethnic Slovenes get punished…

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bango Vasil in Bulgaria

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Bango Vasil in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Police and gendarmerie were stationed at the entrances of several settlements in the Sliven region. The Roma neighbourhood in Sliven was sealed by the police and a checkpoint set up  in the Sliven “Nadezhda” neighbourhood. It was for a special operation aimed at combating drug trafficking and domestic crime. Public order was also being monitored on the eve of the Bango Vasil holiday which the article deems to be the Roma New Yea which is in fact the old new year according to the orthodox calendar.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Zakopane, Poland

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Zakopane, Poland

On Krupówki, one of the main street in Zakopane, there are apparently more and more Roma bands from Poland but also from neighbouring Slovakia. Music on the street pleases some tourists but apparently bothers the city’s residents. The bands play too loudly and without permits. In order to put an end to this practice, Krupówki is constantly patrolled by the City Guard, and the players. The local city guards are now fining musicians.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Romani Policewoman

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Romani Policewoman

Among Slovenian police officers, there also are several Roma who are trying to build a bridge between the Roma and the majority population. One of them, a policewoman from the Murska Sobota Police Station, works in the field of Roma issues and multiculturalism.

As she told STA, her goal is not only to provide advice when working with the Roma, but also to participate in various events. “Above all, I am a bridge of communication between the Roma and the rest,” she said.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland and Roma Street Musicians

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Poland and Roma Street Musicians

A recording of a concert of a Roma band was published on Instagram. The crowd gathered in front of the band. The spectacle was going on as usual, until suddenly the sounds of sirens of an approaching police car resounded in the background. The Roma reacted immediately. They took their instruments and set off.

Apparently, in Zakopane in the Polish Tatra mountains, there are many Roma bands playing.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Council of Europe, Hungary, and Roma

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Council of Europe, Hungary, and Roma

From 10 to 13 December 2024, the Roma and Travellers Division of the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the Agent of the Hungarian Government before the ECHR and the Hungarian police authorities, organised a training of trainers based on the toolkit for police officers, focusing on the Council of Europe standards on racially motivated crimes and non-discrimination.

Well… Discrimination in Hungary is rampant. And the government has done nothing in the last 20 years against it…

News Western Europe United Kingdom

UK: Apologies

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UK: Apologies

Greater Manchester Police has apologised ‘for any humiliation and distress caused’ after groups of kids were ordered to leave the city, a leading Travellers’ charity has said.

Well, they took time. And it was definitively racist.

News Western Europe United Kingdom

UK, the Police, and Racism …

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UK, the Police, and Racism …

Manchester Police forced Roma and Traveller’s children who were attending a Christmas market onto trains which left them 100 miles away from Manchester. Roma and Travellers association are considering legal actions and have requested apologies from the police.

Italy News Western Europe

Rome – A Police Raid

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Rome – A Police Raid

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 …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Police Abuse

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Slovakia: Police Abuse

The most well-known case of police brutality in Slovakia in the media is from Košice. It happened back in 2009. Ten Košice policemen forced Roma boys from the Luník IX housing estate to slap and kiss each other under the threat of a fight, ordered them to strip naked and stand with their hands above their heads, barked at them with unmuzzled dogs, and put a gun to one of their heads.

The police officers, who were recording everything on their mobile phones, were accused of harassing Roma between the ages of 11 and 17, who were suspected of robbing a pensioner. The case dragged on in court for years, they were convicted several times by the courts, eventually they were declared innocent and some of the dismissed policemen returned to the force. The final word is with the regional court, a hearing in this matter has not yet been scheduled.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Police Day

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The celebration of the Day of the Croatian Police and their patron Saint Michael was held in the building of the Međimurje Police Department in Čakovec. So far, ok.

The statement of the article saying that “Police officers should be given back their authority in the field, so that they can be efficient, especially in Roma settlements!” is definitively not ok.

News Eastern Europe North Macedonia

North Macedonia and Roma

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The police and the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime committed direct discrimination against a Roma child from Prilep by failing to conduct a thorough and detailed investigation into how the child was injured in the head, chest and back and whether this was due to the use of excessive police force.

Surprised?

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Violence

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In the Novo Mesto region of Slovenia, a 48 years old man entered a school and beat up a Roma child. Well, the man is not a Rom, and, according to the article, “The police continue to gather information and determine all the circumstances. In order to clarify all the circumstances, they will conduct interviews with representatives of the school, children and parents. Based on the findings, appropriate action will be taken against the 48-year-old.”

Spot the issue? Just imagine it had been the other way around.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, the Police, and Roma

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The Slovenian police union demanded that a member of the Parliament of the Svoboda Movement, Sara Žibrat, publicly apologize to all police officers for the doubts and unverified statements she made at one of the sessions in the Parliament. During the debate, Žibratova drew attention to information that the police officers in Kočevje allegedly beat up a minor Roma. The union strongly rejected her insinuations and emphasized that the supervision of the work of the police officers did not show any irregularities, nor was there any evidence that Roma were beaten.

Well ……

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, the Police and Roma

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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.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, Police, and Roma

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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”.

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