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Czech Republic: Anti-Roma marches result in 101 people detained

26 August 2013
3 minute read

Police Presidium spokesperson Ivana Ježková has told the Czech News Agency that police detained a total of 101 people in four towns across the Czech Republic during the anti-Romani demonstrations and marches on Saturday, 24 August. Those detained are suspected of committing either misdemeanor or felony offenses.

Police detained dozens of people in Ostrava and Plzeň. Ježková said police handled their tasks well during the protests and counter-protests, which were attended by a total of roughly 2 500 people across the country. 

"We had to address the most problems in Ostrava, where we detained 62 people. We detained 29 people in Plzeň, nine in České Budějovice and one person in Duchcov," Ježková said.

Police say the protests in other towns were calm. "The calmest demonstration, in our view, was in Jičín, but we didn’t have to intervene in Brno or Děčín either, where protest ‘happenings’ were taking place," Ježková said.

An assembly against "black racism, police violence and social injustice" was also convened by citizens in Varnsdorf, but according to earlier reports, everything was calm there as well. However, Ježková said demonstrators in Ostrava destroyed both civilian and police vehicles as well as surrounding buildings by throwing bottles, rocks, and other objects at onlookers and police officers.

"They injured 21 police officers. According to our information, health care workers treated four demonstrators too," she said. 

Gabriela Holčáková, spokesperson for the Moravian-Silesian Regional Police, said that female minors and intoxicated people were among those detained in Ostrava. "Most are suspected of committing misdemeanors against public order and public property, but some are suspected of felony rioting, vandalism, and violence against a public official," she clarified.

Charges have not yet been filed against any of those detained. On social networking sites, right-wing radicals are announcing that they will convene another assembly in Ostrava for Friday, 27 September. 

Martina Kohoutová, spokesperson for the Plzeň Regional Police, told the Czech News Agency that in Plzeň most of those detained had been participating in an anti-racist assembly that physically blocked the anti-Roma march. "A total of 21 people committed illegal behavior, evidently misdemeanors, and many of them were participating in the assembly against the march, while eight were participating in the march itself," she said. 

Jiří Matzner, spokesperson for the South Bohemian Regional Police, told the Czech News Agency that those detained in České Budějovice had not obeyed police instructions, which is classified as a misdemeanor. Daniel Vítek, spokesperson for the Teplice Police, said the same situation occurred in Duchcov. Two of the people detained in České Budějovice were juveniles.

According to Police Presidium spokesperson Ježková, hundreds of police officers were deployed in all of the towns where assemblies and marches took place. She said police handled their task of preventing damage to health and property to the greatest possible extent, as well as preventing the spread of violence.

Ježková also noted that officers in anti-conflict teams played an enormous role on Saturday. "It was calm and safe after 18:00 in all of the towns, police just monitored the situation and dealt with minor matters," she said, adding that regional-level police directorates are still evaluating their video recordings and other findings from the events.  

Roughly 1 500 neo-Nazis and their sympathizers participated in anti-Roma demonstrations and marches in eight towns across the country on Saturday, 24 August, but Ostrava was the only protest that turned violent. About 1 000 people also participated in counter-protests against intolerance and racism. 

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