Czech Police mobilizing: 500 neo-Nazis heading to Ústí nad Labem
Tomáš Lansfeld, Regional Police Director, informed the Czech News Agency of the enforcement today. A march organized by the radical right-wing Workers’ Youth (Dělnická mládež – DM) group, which sympathizes with the DSSS, was originally scheduled to take place in Brno, but the right-wing radicals are evidently heading to Ústí nad Labem instead.
Radical opponents of the ultra-right are probably also going to visit Ústí nad Labem for 1 May as well. Police expect about 500 people to come to town for the rally by the DSSS and its supporters.
Lansfeld said hundreds of police officers will be deployed. There will be anti-conflict teams, a regional riot unit, and a special riot unit in the field.
"We are negotiating with the Liberec Police Directorate about their providing us with riot units. In case of need we would also call in a unit from Prague," the head of the Regional Police told the Czech News Agency.
For tactical reasons Lansfeld did not want to specify the exact number of police officers that will be on the streets. He said a large number of right-wing radicals will be heading to Ústí nad Labem because the DM has cancelled its event in Brno.
Representatives of groups that sympathize with the DSSS have said previously they will be heading to Ústí. Police believe it is also possible that football hooligans from Ostrava and from Poland will travel to north Bohemia for the event.
"We have that information but for the time being it’s not confirmed," Lansfeld said. Opponents of the ultra-right will probably also travel to the town, including anarchists from Germany.
The DSSS has advertised international participation on the Facebook pages for the march. Among others, representatives of the ultra-right German NPD party are supposed to attend.
Practically all spaces in the center of Ústí nad Labem will be occupied, as other political parties are also planning their traditional 1 May events. The route of the DSSS march is planned to go around several streets that lead to the largest Romani ghetto in Ústí, the Předlice quarter.
The Konexe civic association has notified authorities that it will be assembling there, as it wants to prevent local residents from being targeted by the right-wing radicals. "We notified the authorities of our assembly on those streets so the radicals would not be able to get there. We have also notified authorities of our assembly in the center of Předlice itself, where the most socially vulnerable people live," Miroslav Brož of Konexe told the Czech News Agency earlier.
Municipal police are also counting on beefing up their patrols. The central municipal department will have an official present at the DSSS assembly empowered to dissolve the assembly should the law be broken.
Ústí nad Labem last experienced a big right-wing radical assembly in April 2009. About 400 right-wing radicals from the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia marched through the town.
