Czech Republic: 100 right-wing extremists march through Svitavy

Novinky.cz reports that this afternoon a march by right-wing extremists that has become an annual tradition was experienced once more by the town of Svitavy. About 100 people gathered in front of the local train station and marched through the town to protest the imprisonment of a local skinhead, Vlastimil Pechanec, who was convicted of the 2001 murder of a Romani man, Ota Absolon, in a local discotheque and sentenced to 17 years in prison.  

Pechanec and his supporters insist he is innocent. The conveners of today’s event originally anticipated approximately 200 people would participate.

Dozens of riot officers, police dogs and an anti-conflict team were on hand in anticipation of those numbers. In the end, only half of those expected to gather in Svitavy did so.

The right-wing extremists formed a short procession after a slight delay and marched through the town shouting "Pechanec is no murderer! Nothing but the nation! Bohemia for the Czechs!" The event was scheduled to end in the early evening.

Pechanec was sentenced to imprisonment in 2003. Absolon was 30 at the time of his murder and was survived by his common-law wife and two small children, but his wife died of cancer before the verdict against her husband’s murderer was pronounced. 

Pechanec defended himself by arguing that the evidence against him had been fabricated and the trial was rigged. Right-wing radicals have been marching in Svitavy to support him every year since 2006.