Czech fascist party publishes a second racist campaign ad, this one against Romani people, report of a crime filed against it
The "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) movement of Tomio Okamura is facing yet another report of a crime being filed against it over a racist election advertisement that is targeting the Romani minority. The report of a crime is just one more incident in the recent series of scandals involving the SPD and is being filed by Romani community member Cyril Koky together with the ROMEA nonprofit organization.
Romea.cz reported that police in Prague have started a criminal proceedings over the first controversial election ad for the SPD featuring a dark-skinned man wielding a bloody knife. That case has already made it to the Czech Constitutional Court.
This most recent SPD ad has sparked another wave of criticism and targets the Romani minority. SPD chair Tomio Okamura shared it to his official social media profile.
The image on the poster was generated by artificial intelligence and portrays two Romani boys with cigarettes in their mouths and the words: “They say we should go to school, but our folks couldn’t care less…” and “Welfare just for families whose children attend school!”
Okamura published a commentary along with the ad on social media including the following allegations: “Our inadaptable fellow citizens are an unaddressed, growing problem in our country. They are characterized by poor relationships with their neighbors and insufficient hygiene, a lack of interest in education and work, high criminality and abuse of welfare.”
According to Romani community member Cyril Koky, who has worked for years as an official specializing in national minorities for the Central Bohemian Regional Authority, these SPD posters incite hatred. “What the SPD is up to in its election campaign this year is genuinely unprecedented. Through its posters it has decided to foment even more hate and animosity,” he told news server Romea.cz, pointing out the misleading nature of the text in the ad and recalling that legislation already exists in the Czech Republic regarding compulsory school attendance and that eligibility for welfare is already linked to children’s school attendance.
“Attendance of elementary school is compulsory in the Czech Republic and children’s legal guardians are obligated to send them to school, and if they do not do so, they are committing the offense of endangering the moral upbringing of a child per Section 201 of Act no. 40/2009, Coll., (the Criminal Code), and they risk up to two years in prison if convicted,” Koky explained. Together with the ROMEA organization he is filing a report of a crime against the SPD Tomio Okamura party and the others in its joint ticket for the regional and Senate elections.
“We have decided, together with the ROMEA organization, to file a report of a crime against the SPD, Tricolor and PRO,” Koky said. According to Štefan Balog, the manager of the ROMEA organization’s scholarship program, the SPD’s anti-Romani campaign spits in the face of all Romani parents who motivate their children to get an education.
“‘Our folks couldn’t care less?’ Are we actually living in a society where generalizations and stereotypes are used during political campaigns? How much are the experts from the SPD aware of this subject, how much do they know about the kinds of problems Romani people face in the field of education? How many families have these supposed experts from the SPD spoken with, how many schools have they visited, how deep is their knowledge about the issue of education?” Balog asked ironically.
“The ROMEA organization has long focused on the education of Romani children and that SPD ad invalidates not just the work of ROMEA and other entities dedicated to educating Romani people, but also spits in the face of all the Romani parents who motivate their children to get educated precisely so they can apply themselves on the labor market,” Balog said. Marián Dancso, Vice-Chair of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs, agrees with filing a report of a crime against the party.
Dansco also called on the SPD to immediately remove the ad. “I call on you to immediately remove that poster and refrain from spreading any more such inappropriate content. Political communication should be done with respect for the dignity of all citizens irrespective of their ethnic origin. It is essential that it be undertaken ethically and in the spirit of cohesion, not hate. I hope you will take responsibility for the steps you have taken and contribute toward creating a fairer, more cohesive environment,” Dancso said.
News server Romea.cz did its best for two days to get a comment from the SPD’s press spokesperson. She has not yet responded to our questions.
The SPD press spokesperson promised a response to Romea.cz when we reached her by phone, but did not answer our follow-up calls. Zuzan Majerová’s Tricolor party and the PRO party of Jindřich Rajchl also did not respond to our questions.
UPDATE, 24/08/2024, 18:00
SPD Chairman Tomio Okamura told ČTK that the criminal charges confirm that SPD “hit the nail on the head” with its posters. According to the movement’s leader, these charges are brought by government-funded institutions and politicians. He described the images as allegories.
“The widespread dissemination of SPD’s allegories by government-funded institutions and politicians confirms that we were right on target,” Okamura said on Saturday. According to him, the movement’s portrayal of the state of society and its treatment of whistleblowers, instead of addressing the underlying issues, only provoke people to “get angry like paper devils.”
UPDATE, 24. 8. 2024, 18:00
SPD chair Tomio Okamura has told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) that the report of a crime in relation to his ad confirms that it “hit the nail on the head”. According to him, the reports are being filed by institutions and politicians paid for by the Czech Governemnt.
Okamura also called the portrayal of Romani children in the ad an “allegory”. “These mass reportings of the SPD’s allegory by institutions and politicians paid for by the Government confirm that we’ve hit the nail on the head,” he said on Saturday.
According to Okamura, his movement is describing the current state of affairs in society and those who have reported the advertisement as a crime are “getting as angry as paper devils” instead of addressing the situation.
