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A Prague court has rejected a complaint of alleged discrimination filed by a young Somali woman who left a Prague nursing school because she was not allowed to wear a headscarf. She sued the school, seeking an apology and 60,000 crowns in compensation. The court ruled that there was no evidence of discrimination. The school headmistress argued that wearing a hijab was unacceptable at a nursing school and that hospitals where nurses were sent on training would not accept it. She moreover argued that the said student had failed to fulfil the criteria for admission by not producing a residence permit by the set date and had only come up with the hijab as her reason for leaving the school later. The case evoked heated emotions and at one point the judge ordered the courtroom cleared.

A Prague court began on Wednesday a hearing into whether a local nursing school was within its powers when it banned two Muslim students from wearing a veil, the hijab. The court case, dating back to 2013, has been brought by one girl, a Somali who was given refuge in the Czech Republic in 2011. The other girl, an Afghan, did not take legal steps. Both girls later left the school. The girls were later supported by the Czech Ombudswoman, Anna Šabotová, who argued that the school acted in a discriminatory fashion. But the school director has been given backing of students and parents. The Somali girl is pressing for an apology from the school and damages amounting to 60,000 crowns.

A Prague court has cleared Vladimír Šanka, the former head of Prague’s Muslim community, of ‘promoting a movement aimed at suppressing rights and freedoms’, in connection with the publication of a radical Islamic text. Central to the debate in the trial, was whether the book, banned in some countries for promoting Salafism, fell under the definition of an ideology or movement. The court ruled that it was the former. Promotion of a hate movement would constitute a criminal act carrying a possible sentence of up to 10 years behind bars. The state prosecutor had sought a three-year suspended sentence in the case and has already appealed the decision.

The Czech intelligence services are investigating an imam formerly active in Prague who apparently tried to radicalize the Czech Muslim community, the news site idnes reported. Imam Samer Shehadeh reportedly tried to dissuade members of the Muslim community from attending a Christian mass in a show of solidarity with people of a different faith by warning them that it would amount to a betrayal of Islam. Recordings of him preaching also indicate that he was more radical than the community assumed. According to Romana Červenková of the Czech Muslim community Shehadeh was a self-proclaimed imam without official accreditation and the community quickly distanced itself from him. Shehadeh then reportedly spent a brief time preaching in Bratislava from where he was forced out as well.

Members of the Czech Muslim Community gathered outside a Catholic church in Prague on Wednesday to denounce violence and express solidarity with the victims of terrorist attacks, most particularly French priest Jacques Hamel murdered in France by Islamic militants. Many carried banners saying “terrorism is not a religion” and some silently attended mass at the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord in a show of respect for Christians.

Members of the Prague Muslim community will condemn the recent terrorist attacks in Europe and protest against violence at a demonstration in Prague on Wednesday, the ctk news agency reported. In a gesture of solidarity they will also silently attend a mass in the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord on Prague’s Jiří z Podebrad square, lighting candles and laying flowers outside the church in memory of those killed in terrorist attacks. Some 200 Muslims are expected to attend the event.

The north Bohemian spa town of Teplice has produced a special guide for visitors from the Middle East, which includes advice on what to wear in the swimming pool and how to behave in public spaces. The leaflets were produced to minimize conflicts between the local people and visitors from Arab countries, who are the spa’s largest group of clients.

Secondary school students in Teplice have launched a campaign in support of a Muslim classmate under pressure for wearing a headscarf. The school’s principal has received dozens of emails calling for her expulsion for “promoting Islam” but says the teenager is going nowhere.

A female student is taking legal action against a Prague school that refused to allow her to wear a hijab, her lawyer told the Czech News Agency. Two young Muslim women left the Prague 10 Medical Secondary School in 2013 after being barred from wearing the headdress. Ombudswoman Anna Šabatová has supported the women, describing the institution's actions as indirect discrimination. The school says its rules don't allow students to have their heads covered.

The number of hate crimes registered in the Czech Republic increased to 86 in 2014, the legal organisation In Iustitia, which is helping the crime victims, has reported. In 2011 the organisation registered 57 incidents. Most of the attacks happened in relation to nationality, ethnic origin or religion. Among the most frequent victims of hate attacks were Roma and Muslim men. In its report, In Iustitia also warned against growing Islamophobia in the Czech society.