Czech Republic: Municipality in Ostrava plans to ban right-wing radical meeting

The local council of the centrally-located municipal department of Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz in Ostrava is planning to ban an anti-Romani event organized by right-wing radicals for this coming Saturday who have announced their intentions to gather and march through the town. Jana Pondělíčková, spokesperson for the Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz local government, told the Czech News Agency that the demonstration would coincide with an open house being held at the Ostrava Town Hall in the vicinity and the municipal department is concerned the ultra-right gathering poses a risk to security and will cause transportation complications. 

The most recent right-wing extremist event in Ostrava ended in clashes with police. The authorities have now received different announcements about the planned demonstration, which the conveners are calling a "Protest against racism and police violence". 

The first announcement was that the assembly would march through Sokolská, Muglinovská and Nádražní Streets to Svatopluk Čech Square. The local council, however, reached an agreement with those convening the event to change its location.   

"The new announcement of the event says it will take place at the monument in the Komenský Orchard and there is no plan for a march," Pondělíčková said. However, authorities received yet another announcement about the event yesterday afternoon from a different convener.

In this latest announcement, the right-wing radicals say they will march down Sokolská Street to the intersection with Mariánskohorská Street. "We addressed changing the place of the assembly with a representative of the conveners, but they are refusing. We are currently preparing a decision to ban this assembly," Pondělíčková said.

Both conveners of the event have officially announced it as a "Protest against racism and police violence". However, the invitations to the event posted online use the term "gypsy racism". 

Organizers have also created an official website for the planned meeting where they instruct participants how to behave, for example, should police intervene. Another right-wing radical event has been announced for 28 October on Prokešovo Square in Ostrava.

Two right-wing extremist events have taken place in Ostrava in the past two months, both of which ended in clashes with police. The first event, at the end of August, involved right-wing radicals meeting up for an anti-Romani demonstration on Prokešovo Square in the center of town, from which about 1 000 people set out for Svatopluk Čech Square, where Romani residents had held a counter-protest earlier in the day.  

The most serious violence in August occurred at the intersection of Nádražní and Mariánskohorská Streets. Police arrested 62 people.

At the end of September, a rally by the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS) was held on a square in the Zábřeh quarter of Ostrava and also grew into a street battle with police. A mob of approximately 1 000 protesters attempted to reach a residential hotel mainly occupied by Romani people on nearby SNP Square. Police detained 21 people.

Police have since charged more than 15 people with committing violence against a public official or rioting in connection with these events. Both demonstrations cost the police and the town hundreds of thousands of crowns in damages, as well as the costs of the security operations to contain them.