Czech Greens to Interior Minister: Intervene against the neo-Nazi march

The Green Party (Strana zelených) is calling on newly-appointed Czech Interior Minister Jan Kubice to take greater action against neo-Nazis. In a statement released today, the Greens emphasized the need for more thorough preparations on the part of police for the neo-Nazi march in Brno this Sunday and asked the Interior Minister to return to the policy of the previous period, “when police were not tasked with merely overseeing the peaceful course of neo-Nazi meetings, but with intervening against extremists who, in contravention of the law, openly espouse national and racial hatred.” News server Romea.cz publishes their press release in full below:

Greens call on new Interior Minister to intervene against neo-Nazi march

On the basis of evidence showing the close connections between those who have convened the upcoming 1 May march through Brno and the neo-Nazi group National Resistance (Národní odpor – NO), the Green Party is calling on newly-appointed Interior Minister Jan Kubice to re-evaluate the stance taken by his predecessor, Radek John and to take more action against the neo-Nazis [1]. These Neo-Nazi marches, as was confirmed two years ago, are for many participants just part of ongoing preparations to later commit arson.

An analysis of the web pages of the group that has convened the 1 May march and the web pages of the militant, neo-Nazi NO movement shows that both web addresses, www.prvni-maj.cz and www.odpor.org, are registered to the same person. This confirms the clear connection between the organizers of this march and the NO movement. Organizers of the march affiliated with the Workers’ Youth (Dělnická mládež – DM) are, moreover, infamous for their activities on the neo-Nazi scene, including being photographed in NO t-shirts or beneath flags with swastikas on them. Two years ago, the same close connections were proven when the 1 May march through Brno included a man who later committed arson against a Roma family in Vítkov, maiming a two-year-old girl for life. The man was working as a member of the personal security team for Tomás Vandas, the then-chair of the Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana – DS), during the 1 May 2009 march.

The Green Party is therefore asking newly-appointed Interior Minister Jan Kubice to re-evaluate the stance toward these issues taken by his predecessor, Radek John, and to instruct police units to prepare more thoroughly for Sunday’s neo-Nazi rally in Brno, including taking greater action against those whose aim is to undermine the democratic constitutional principles of our country. Police experts have three more days in which to document the connections between those convening the march and these militant neo-Nazis and, in collaboration with the Brno City Hall, to disperse Sunday’s rally of NO sympathizers. This is the only way police can avoid being placed in the role of using violence against respectable people in order to clear the way for neo-Nazis to march through a Roma locality.

During former Interior Minister Radek John’s time in office, police work in the fight against neo-Nazi extremists significantly eased off. Instead of targeted interventions, the ministry produced a standpoint in which it has openly admitted that police were tasked with explaining to Roma residents “the legitimacy of the neo-Nazi marches” [2]. The Greens therefore call on newly-appointed Interior Minister Jan Kubice to return to the policy of the previous period, when police were not tasked with merely overseeing the peaceful course of neo-Nazi meetings, but with intervening against extremists who, in contravention of the law, openly espouse national and racial hatred.

The Standpoint of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic (Stanovisko Ministerstva vnitra ČR) on the events that occurred in Krupka earlier this month was typical of John’s time in office [2]. It is full of explanations as to why police officers provided protection for a neo-Nazi march whose participants broke the law (see the subsequent arrest and conviction of a Slovak citizen who addressed the rally). On the other hand, the ministry justified its use of force against the clergy and respectable people who decided to stand up to the neo-Nazis through prayer.

Ondřej Liška, chair of the Green Party (Strana zelených), says:”It wasn’t so long ago that police were tasked with compiling evidence so the Workers’ Party could be dissolved. Today those same people have merely changed the name of their party and police are ensuring that they can parade undisturbed through Roma localities in Krupka and Nový Bydžov. The new minister should change this and show us that a similar disgrace will not be repeated in Brno.”

Martin Ander, chair of the Green Party organization in Brno, adds:”There is more than enough proof that this pre-announced ‘Labor Day Celebration’ is really just a cover for neo-Nazis from all over Central Europe to rally. On Sunday, police should intervene like they did four years ago and not let the neo-Nazis onto the streets of Brno. A democratic state must defend itself against those who want the return of the National-Socialist regime experienced by our grandfathers’ generation.”

Sources:

[1] Letter from Green Party Chair Ondřej Liška to Interior Minister Jan Kubice

[2] Standpoint of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic (Stanovisko Ministerstva vnitra ČR): http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/stanovisko-ministerstva-vnitra-k-udalostem-v-krupce.aspx

“In addition to standard preparations by the criminal and traffic police, it is necessary to also mention the outreach performed by officers tasked with interfacing with minorities, who traveled regularly on a daily basis starting on Monday 4 April to the housing estate where the march and gathering by the Workers’ Social Justice Party was to take place in order to explain to the citizens the legitimacy of the gathering, the course it would take, and the security measures prepared.”