Czech Republic: Neo-Nazis to march in Přerov, "Let's Block the Marches!" announces counter-action

Right-wing extremists are planning to visit Přerov for an officially announced demonstration including a two-kilometer march through the town this Saturday. The route will lead past Romani localities.

Organizers originally planned to march directly through the center of the minority community, but repairs to local roads disappointed their hopes. Local police have not had good experiences with similar actions in the past and are preparing for Saturday to the same extent as they have for previous demonstrations.

Mounted police officers will be deployed and a police helicopter will fly over Přerov once more. The "Let’s Block the Marches!" (Blokujeme!) platform is organizing a counter-action there as well.

Blokujeme! has officially announced a peaceful protest gathering with a cultural program and speeches for Saturday 21 September at 14:00 in the park on František Rasch Square not far from the neo-Nazis’ presumed march route. A bus will be leaving for Přerov from  Brno at 11 AM from the Museum of Roma Culture (Bratislavská 67); to reserve a seat, contact jedemdoprerova@centrum.cz.  

Anyone interested in contributing to the costs of transporting participants to the Blokujeme! event can send donations to the transparent bank account of the platform’s partner association, Konexe, number 2500271703/2010 (please include the message "Autobus Brno-Přerov" with your donation). The bus will cost CZK 8 000, so 40 paying travelers would contribute CZK 200 each; everyone is encouraged to sponsor transportation for those who can’t afford it.

The right-wing extremists will meet up at 14:00 on TGM Square. "The march should go down Kratochvílová Street, Komenského Street and Havlíčkova Street to Čechova Street and then head for the Hypernova shopping center. It should then pass down Tovární Street, turn on to Denisova Street, pass down Ztracená Street, then go through Šířava Street and Žerotínovo Square to Wilsonova Street," Deputy Mayor Michal Zácha (Civic Democrats – ODS) said.

The route of the march, estimated at more than 2 kilometers, is much longer than the one taken during a similar event this past May. Organizers originally planned to march down Kojetínská Street and past Škodova Street, where the largest Romani locality in Přerov is currently situated.

One lane of that street is being dug up, however, so the neo-Nazis have had to change their plans and will simply turn around at the train station. Town representatives say that even with this adjustment the neo-Nazis will be still marching through localities where problems might occur.

Organizers of the neo-Nazi march are calling it a "Protest against crime and law-breaking by the police and for the rights of all decent citizens of this country," and are expecting hundreds of people to attend. The march by "decent citizens" was announced to the town hall by the neo-Nazi Pavel Sládek Matějný, a former leading figure in the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS) now active in a militant group calling itself the "Czech Lions" (Čeští lvi).

Matějný has organized several demonstrations recently for the "Czech Lions", the most recent of which (in České Budějovice and Duchcov) were fiascoes, as only a few people turned out for them. During a previous anti-Romani demonstration in Duchcov he led a group of neo-Nazi street fighters that attacked police officers after he shouted "This isn’t just our march route, it’s our town!"  

Matějný is also well-known from many other right-wing extremist events, such as meetings of the DSSS with German neo-Nazis. Among other things he has been photographed giving the Nazi salute next to the flag of the Nazi Third Reich with the Iron Cross at an event convened by neo-Nazi Jaromír Pytel, who recently helped organize a previous anti-Romani march in České Budějovice.  

The Czech Interior Ministry recently refused to register the "Czech Lions" as a civic association. The group meets the definition of an unpermitted association because it is involved in activities that are illegal or unconstitutional.

An "unpermitted association" is defined in paragraph 4 of the Law on Associations (No. 83/1990, Coll.) as follows:

"Associations are not permitted:
a) whose aim is to deny or restrict the personal, political or other rights of citizens on the basis of their nationality, origin, political or other opinions, race, religion, sex, or social position; to incite hatred and intolerance for such reasons; to support violence; or to otherwise violate the Constitution and the laws;
b) who seek to achieve such aims through methods that violate the Constitution and the laws;
c) who are armed or who include armed units; this does not include associations whose members possess or use firearms for purposes of sport or to exercise their right to hunt."  

The Přerov town hall must now ready the march route once again and instruct technical services to remove garbage containers, for example, from the street. Local authorities and police have informed residents of the march route through brochures.

The right-wing extremists most recently dragged their banners through Přerov on 1 May. Around 300 participants came to the town and the event took place without problems.

In 2011 there were 200 participants for a similar event, but in 2009 the same demonstration was attended by roughly 700 people. That event ended in a street battle with police.