‘A Far-Right Terrorist Shot Me Four Times, But I Felt No Hate When I Testified Against Him’
Ylva Schwenke was 14 when she survived the deadliest attack in Norway since WWII.
ANNA KOSLER
Czech-born, Scandinavian-raised, Scotland-based
journalist, social psychologist, and barista
Published work
Ahead of election, Pandora Papers cast shadow over Czech PM
Andrej Babis, who denies allegations about his offshore dealings, is under pressure from Czechs, politicians and media.
Prague, Czech Republic – With days to go until national elections in the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis is trying to shake off criticism following allegations about his business dealings in the Pandora Papers.
‘The money we get will not compensate for my infertility’
The Czech state has agreed to reparations for some victims of forced sterilisation, but does the move go far enough?
Earlier this month, women who were involuntarily sterilised in the Czech state finally won their battle for compensation.
On August 3, President Miloš Zeman signed a bill into law that will see hundreds of victims each receive 300,000 Czech crowns ($13,890).
The State Separated Him From His Mother Aged 8 Months. It Took 26 Years to Learn the Truth.
It was one of four different state care institutions he lived in before he turned 18, and began asking questions about his background and family. Why had he been placed in care? What had happened to his parents? Did he have any relatives? It wasn’t until Dord was 26 years old that he finally learned the truth, when two authors contacted him to ask about his childhood in an institution. To find out more about his past, Dord went to the local city council and requested access to his personal file.
Women Sterilised Against Their Will to Receive Compensation—Up to £10,000
Up to 400 women, most of whom are Roma, could now be eligible for payments of up to 300,000 Czech crowns (around £10,000), paid for by the Czech Ministry of Health.
Earlier this year VICE World News spoke to victims of unlawful sterilisation who had little hope that they would ever be compensated for being sterilised against their will, under semi-official eugenic policies aimed at curbing the Roma population in what was then the Soviet satellite state of Czechoslovakia.
Illegally sterilised Czech women to be offered compensation
Women sterilised without their consent are to be offered compensation in the Czech Republic after President Miloš Zeman signed a bill into law this week.
The women, most of whom were Roma, will be awarded 300,000 Czech crowns (£10,000) from the government as compensation.
‘I’m in Constant Horror’: Student Jailed Over Printouts of Facebook Posts
Souheila Yildiz holds a photo of Ahmed Samir Santawy, while protests take place outside the Egyptian embassy in Vienna. Photo: Supplied
Because when Ahmed Samir Santawy arrived at Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, he was detained and interrogated about his research around Egyptian women’s reproductive rights at the Central European University in Vienna, where he is studying for a master’s.
Death of Romany man knelt on by Czech police must be ‘investigated urgently’
Human rights organisations are leading calls for an urgent investigation into the death of a Czech man who died after being restrained by police, after footage of the incident went viral on social media.
The neck restraint technique used during the arrest of a Romany man was “reckless, unnecessary and disproportionate, and therefore unlawful”, according to Amnesty International, who also called on the local authorities for an immediate, impartial investigation
Death of Romany man knelt on by Czech police compared to that of George Floyd
Video footage of a police officer kneeling on the neck of a Romany man who later died in an ambulance is being shared among Czechs on social media, leading many to compare his treatment to that of George Floyd.
The video, shot on 19 June, shows three police officers in Teplice, a town in the north of the Czech Republic, detaining a Romany man on the floor.
‘Delete the Video or We’ll Block YouTube’: Inside Putin’s War on the Free Press
“I am pretty sure they did this to show us that they are above the law and can do as they please with us," Victor Ershov, another DOXA editor, told VICE World News. Under the terms of the order, the four editors were banned from communicating with the outside world, including using the internet.
The Russian state’s actions against DOXA are not unique. VICE World News has spoken to editors from two other independent Russian news outlets
Antonin Panenka: Czech legend opens up on intensive care, clash with Celtic, 'no ridicule' and rates copycat penalties at Hibs and Dunfermline
Interview with legend behind the "Panenka" penalty kick
‘None of the evidence was enough’: Czech women fight to criminalise non-consensual sex
“I felt so lost when I heard the court verdict; as if the fact that he raped me was somehow not enough,” said Jana Novak.
Novak, from Prague, pressed charges against her attacker in 2019 and endured an 18-month-long court case. “I had all the evidence, the creepy messages, the medical notes,” said Novak, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. “But none of it was enough.”
‘Belarusian journalists are unsafe and constantly under attack’
The operation was most likely prepared by Belarusian secret services long in advance. There seems to be little logic in why they did so one day before the European Summit in Brussels. What happened shows that Protasevich’s work was a serious threat to Lukashenko, meaning he was doing important work.
‘Authorities don’t treat Roma like ordinary citizens’
Police violence towards the Roma in Europe has risen in the pandemic, according to rights groups, witnesses and legal experts.
Members of the Roma, Europe’s largest and most marginalised minority, have been exposed to increased policing and police violence during the pandemic, according to rights groups, experts, lawyers and several members of the community interviewed by Al Jazeera.
Across several European countries, including Romania, North Macedonia and Slovakia, racism, violence and misuse
Here's Why Czechs Are Accusing Their Own President of Pro-Russian Treason
People take part in anti-government demonstrations in Prague on Thursday this week. Photo: Lukas Kabon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Relations between the EU and Russia, already in a deep freeze, went truly subzero this month over Moscow’s treatment of Alexei Navalny, troop deployments on the Ukrainian border, and a major diplomatic row with the Czech Republic.
In conspiracy-prone Czech Republic, young generations remain unconvinced by vaccine’s merits
Prague, Czech Republic – Despite a drastic decrease in vaccine scepticism, young Czechs remain unconvinced. In a country where conspiracy theories appeal to large segments of the population, only 30% of those aged 25-34 plan to get vaccinated.
“We have no idea of the long-term effects of the vaccine. I will not get vaccinated under any circumstances. I value my health and don’t want to risk the consequences,” said David Formánek, the 27-year-old founder of the Facebook page and website “Open your Mind".
A Student Researching Abortion Laws Is Now In One of the World's Strictest Prisons
Santawy was not at home at the time, but his father was given orders that his son was to report to the feared National Security Agency (NSA). Santawy and his father went to the police station on the 30th of January but were told to come back the following day because the head of the police who wanted to see him was not there. "This made us think it was nothing serious. Ahmed attributed the sudden attention of the police to the 10th anniversary of the Egyptian revolution where he was active."
UK should recognise Islamophobia as a crime: Victim’s daughter
Mohammed Saleem, 82, was stabbed to death on his way home after prayers by a man who later planted bombs outside mosques.
On the night of April 29, 2013, Mohammed Saleem, a retired grandfather, was walking home from prayers at his local mosque in Small Heath, a Birmingham suburb.
At 82, he was using a walking stick.
Suddenly, Pavlo Lapshyn, a 25-year-old Ukrainian PhD student, stabbed the elderly man three times in the back with a hunting knife, killing him.
Drillminister: Meet the UK drill rapper running for London mayor
On May 6, millions of Londoners will vote in the mayoral election.
The Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan, the current mayor of the capital city, is expected to hold onto his position, with the right-wing Conservative Party candidate Shaun Bailey lagging in opinion polls.
But a range of outsider candidates intend to challenge Khan, including drill rapper Drillminister, who describes himself as “representing the working class”.
Czech women forcibly sterilised a step closer to reparations
In 1994, 20-year-old Radka Hancilova went to the Kladno Hospital, in central Czech Republic, for a planned Caesarean section.
Before she gave birth, without her knowledge, doctors offered her tubal ligation – a surgical sterilisation procedure that permanently prevents pregnancy.
Load More Articles
