Prague, Dec 6 (CTK) – Foreigners and Muslims are more and more frequently the victims of hate violence in the Czech Republic, while Romanies led the rankings before, Klara Kalibova, director of the In Iustitia organisation, said yesterday.
She said the police statistics speak about 65 such crimes last year, while her organisation registered 154 of them.
In Iustitia trained police in coping with hate violence in the past year. Almost 300 of them attended the programme, which mainly targetted the Usti and Moravia-Silesia regions, where the crime rate is among the highest.
The programme focused on improving work with the victims and possibilities of averting tension in society.
Kalibova said the police “often had the feeling that they do not come across hate crimes, but the course opened their eyes.”
The education of police was arranged in reaction to the Government Office’s demand and was held within the national Campaign against Racism.
The campaign reacts to anti-Romany unrest that erupted in the vicinity of Sluknov, north Bohemia, a few years ago and later moved to South Bohemia and North Moravia.
Radek Jiranek, director of the Social Inclusion Agency, wants the courses to be held in other regions that have problems with excluded localities as well.
Nikola Kristek, manager of the antiracism campaign, said hate violence is an all-society problem.
“The number of hate manifestations on social networks and the Internet has been increasing,” Kristek said.
