Czech Police say they did not make a mistake when they failed to act against Nazi chants at public gathering

The Czech Police did not make a mistake when they did not intervene against supporters of Czech President Miloš Zeman who chanted the slogans "Nothing but the nation" and "Pure race" last year on 17 November during a demonstration in Prague. Ivana Nguyenová, spokesperson for the Czech Police Presidium, has given that answer in response to a question posed by the Czech News Agency.

Police, according to Nguyenová, proceeded in accordance with Czech law and their own methodological recommendations on that occasion. An internal investigation was commissioned from the Police Presidium last November by Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec after some politicians criticized the officers’ procedures during various events on the state holiday.

Zeman appeared side by side with representatives of the "Bloc against Islam" during the event in question. That organization refuses refugee reception, wants to ban Islam, and has representatives who have been charged with disseminating hatred.

Last year promoters of neo-Nazi or ultra-right organizations appeared at several public events against Islam in the Czech Republic. According to Nguyenová, the audit of the police procedure on 17 November did not discover anything problematic.

Police escorted the demonstrators as they marched toward the Office of the Government after Zeman spoke. On the way, the demonstrators chanted racially-motivated slogans that Czech MP Michal Kučera (TOP 09) believes broke the law.

The officers present did not react to the chanting at all. The public also criticized the police for refusing to allow some students to approach the memorial to the students executed by the Nazi regime on 17 November 1939 during the assembly in support of the Czech President.

Chovanec believes police did nothing wrong in that case either. The site of the memorial plaque was, according to him, assessed on that occasion as posing a high security risk.

"Police at that time did not have the capacity to facilitate the students’ access to the plaque," the Interior Minister said at the start of this month. He also reminded the press that the assembly in support of the President had been announced for that location, which meant it was the convener of the public gathering who decided who would be permitted to join the event.

Zeman’s appearance with the "Bloc against Islam" on the occasion of the 17 November anniversary was criticized by many politicians. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party – ČSSD) warned that the President should not appear at an event convened by "xenophobic sects disseminating hatred".

According to Czech Minister for Legislation and Human Rights Jiří Dienstbier (ČSSD), "Zeman is aiding in the creation of a spawning ground for the fascisization of Czech society." A petition organized by Czech MEPs from the Christian Democrats and the TOP 09 and Mayors parties asserted that Zeman is distancing himself from democratic values through his public support for fascisizing movements.

Origin of the slogans "Nothing but the nation" and "Pure race"

The sentence "Nothing but the nation has a right to exist" ("Nic než národ má právo na existenci,") was first used by the Czech historian and politician František Palacký in 1848. During the time of the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), "Nothing but the nation" became the slogan of the anti-Semitic Czechoslovak National Democracy party and the Czech Fascists, and today it is chanted at marches and demonstrations by ultra-right groups such as the Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana) and National Democracy (Národní demokracie), which is led by Adam B. Bartoš.

The anthropologist Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882) influenced later European racism by promoting the theory of racial purity and the allegedly superior role of the "Aryan", "white" race in the development of humanity. That theory was one of the main political propaganda ideas of Nazi Germany, elevating "proper Germans" above other Germans while also elevating Germans per se (including Austrians and German minorities living abroad) over the rest of Europe.