Czech Republic: Real time coverage online of more than five simultaneous anti-Roma hate marches

Neo-Nazis announced hate marches against Romani people in five towns across the Czech Republic for Saturday, 24 August 2013: České Budějovice, Duchcov, Jičín, Ostrava and Plzeň. News server Romea.cz followed the situation on-line, beginning with the afternoon of Friday, 23 August 2013.

Anti-Roma hate marches on-line

20:50
Thank you for following our on-line reporting. We will soon publish more information summarizing today’s events.

20:15 – OSTRAVA
Police in Ostrava have arrested 60 neo-Nazis. Three police officers have been injured. For the time being the exact number of right-wing extremists who were injured has not been determined. The head of the Moravian-Silesian Police, Tomáš Kužel, said the event is over and the streets are calm. About 300 police officers were involved in the operation. The estimated cost of the damages caused by the neo-Nazis is high. Buildings and a large number of vehicles have been damaged.

VIDEO

19:25 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
The situation at the Máj housing estate is calming down. Police had to arrest nine people for refusing to obey police instructions to leave the area.

18:35 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
Approximately 80 racists have made it onto V. Volf Street and are provoking the Romani residents. Our correspondent reports that some of them are even giving the Nazi salute.

18:11 – OSTRAVA
There are very few neo-Nazis left in town. The police intervention is continuing. Police say they will provide information about those arrested at around 19:00.

18:05 – PRAHA
The organizers of the satirical "Stop Czechs!" initiative began their "March against Czechs" at 14:00, which marched from Vyšehrad to the riverfront near Palackého náměstí, where the event ended with a concert by three Prague bands. Those participating chanted slogans such as "We will never give Bohemia to the Czechs!", "Czechs, get to work!" and "Stop Czech racism!", all of which are paraphrases of slogans chanted by right-wing extremists. During the event, in front of the Basilica of St. Peter and Paul, a verbal clash occurred between the activists and a handful of right-wing extremists. About 50 promoters of the initiative were involved. The march was accompanied by about 10 police officers and continued peacefully. Organizers then symbolically hanged a Czech cartoon character and took a photograph of the "lynching" with the panorama of Prague Castle in the background.

17:48 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
According to our correspondent, about 150 anti-Romani demonstrators are still at the Máj housing estate. An SUV is also driving through the streets and its occupants are shouting racist, vulgar curses at Romani people. 

17:37 – OSTRAVA
Police are arresting neo-Nazis. News server iDNES.cz reports they even went after them in a restaurant where the "heroes" were hiding.

17:33 – DUCHCOV
The assembly in Duchcov is over. The hard-core right-wing extremists dispersed on their own without police intervention.

17:32 – PLZEŇ
The neo-Nazi march has ended in Plzeň. News server iDNES.cz reports that police have arrested 15 people, 12 of whom are the opponents of neo-Nazism.

17:20 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
Some right-wing radicals have managed to reach the Máj housing estate and are near V. Volf Street, which police have barricaded.

17:08 – PLZEŇ
Czech Television reports police have arrested between 10-15 anti-Nazi demonstrators.

17:03 – OSTRAVA
The intensity of the clashes is easing off. Police officers have succeeded in pushing the rampaging Nazis down Nádražní Street, away from the Přívoz neighborhood.

17:00 – OSTRAVA
In addition to riot units, special forces units have been deployed, according to the Police Weekly (Týdeník Policie).

16:48 – OSTRAVA
Emergency medical technicians are intervening. One person has been struck in the head with a cobblestone. The Nazis are behaving like wild animals.

16:45 – DUCHCOV
About 100 right-wing extremists want to march down the street where Romani residents are holding their event. The riot police do not intend to allow them. "It is obvious that some of them came to Duchcov to fight," news server iDNES.cz reports.

16:40 – DUCHCOV
Police say the anti-Roma assembly and march is being attended by between 250 – 300 people. Organizers of the event insist 700 people are there and the Teplice edition of the Deník newspaper is reporting as many as 1 000.

16:29 – OSTRAVA
Neo-Nazis have attacked a building, reportedly because they believe it is occupied by Romani people, demolishing its entrance. Other reports allege the assailants believed the secret police were observing them from the building. "Why isn’t anyone protecting us?" the media quote a female resident of the recently renovated building as saying.

16:26 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
Neo-Nazi Jaromír Pytel, the organizer of the anti-Roma march, has called on the marchers to perform acts of civil disobedience and to refuse to pay their taxes if the welfare system is not changed after the upcoming elections. He then officially ended the march. Some marchers have now set off in the direction of the Máj housing estate.

16:25 – DUCHCOV
About 100 neo-Nazis have set off once more on a march through the town.

16:21 – VARNSDORF
About 30 local people gathered on the main square, but no march took place. People have now dispersed.

16:20 – PLZEŇ
The neo-Nazis are separated from their opponents by the river. Pro-Romani demonstrators are whistling at the Nazis.

16:18 – OSTRAVA
Neo-Nazis and police officers are facing off at the intersection of Muglinovská and Nádražní and Streets. A street war is underway. The neo-Nazis have bars and sticks and are throwing rocks as well as using garbage cans as weapons.

16:13 – DĚČÍN
About 80 people, 30 of them neo-Nazis, gathered on the square. The assembly was disorganized; no one made any speeches. The participants have dispersed.

16:12 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
The anti-Roma mob has made it to the end point of its march on the Vltava river. The original 150 participants were joined by others during the march. There were approximately 300 anti-Roma demonstrators total.

16:10 – DUCHCOV
Anti-Romani demonstrators have marched through the town. The neo-Nazis were joined by so-called "decent" people, who chanted hateful slogans against Romani people together with the right-wing radicals. The crowd of about 700 people returned to the square and organizers officially ended the event. 

16:06 – PLZEŇ
Opponents of neo-Nazism in Plzeň are continuing to physically block the neo-Nazi march. Police had to intervene, but it is unclear whether any anti-racist activists have been arrested.

16:05 – OSTRAVA
Neo-Nazis armed with rocks and sticks are attacking police officers and doing their best to get to the Romani residents. Police are pushing them back. Now they are on Svatopluk Čech Square. The neo-Nazis are demolishing everything they can get their hands on. Police are making their first arrests of aggressive Nazis.

16:02 – BRNO
The neo-Nazi action was a fiasco. They are leaving in total frustration.

16:00 – OSTRAVA
The situation is unpredictable. "Police are closing roads and intervening, we can hear stun grenades," our correspondent reports. The neo-Nazis have been split up into several groups.  

15:51 – PLZEŇ
Police have stopped the neo-Nazis on Františkánská Street. Their route is also being blocked by the opponents of racism.

15:50 – JIČÍN
About 50 right-wing radicals and others have set out from the elementary school on Husova Street on their anti-Roma march through Jičín. They are chanting various slogans. For the time being the event has gone off without any incidents.

15:46 – DUCHCOV
Neo-Nazi Jindřich Svoboda is leading anti-Romani demonstrators through the town of Duchcov chanting "Bohemia for the Czechs!" ("Čechy, Čechům!")

15:45 – BRNO
The neo-Nazis are completely lost. Those participating in the anti-racist "happening" are making fun of them. 

15:40 – OSTRAVA
Neo-Nazis are attempting to throw rocks at a Romani-occupied residential hotel. Riot police are intervening at the scene.

15:39 – PLZEŇ
Opponents of the neo-Nazis are physically blocking their route.

15:34 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
About 150 right-wing extremists are marching against Romani people shouting xenophobic slogans such as "Bohemia for the Czechs!" ("Čechy, Čechům!").

15:33 – OSTRAVA
Neo-Nazis are heading for the Přívoz neighborhood, but the police will evidently not let them in. If they do not obey police instructions, the police will intervene against them.

15:30 – BRNO
Very few neo-Nazis are demonstrating in Brno (approximately 30).

15:05 – DUCHCOV
Approximately 200 people have gathered on one of the squares for a hate assembly against Romani people. Organizers have not yet begun
the meeting and are waiting for more people to arrive.

15:04 – PLZEŇ
Approximately 100 right-wing extremists have gathered in Plzeň.

VIDEO

15:03 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
The anti-Romani assembly has begun, but for the time being very few people are participating. Neo-Nazi Jaromír Pytel a.k.a. DJ Ferda has given a speech to a few dozen people.

15:00 – DĚČÍN
About 40 right-wing extremists have gathered on the square. "It’s hard to say whether more right-wing radicals will show up," our correspondent on the scene reports.

14:50 – OSTRAVA
As many as 600 neo-Nazis have gathered on Prokešovo Square. They are behaving very aggressively. They are listening to speeches and
chanting "Let’s go get ’em!" ("Jdeme na ně!"). Pavel Matějný of the "Czech Lions" (Čeští lvi) neo-Nazi movement has joined forces with
the organizer of the demonstration entitled "Stop racial attacks", which was scheduled to take place in the Komenský Orchards. Participants of that event have now all come over to Prokešovo Square. The Czech News Agency reports that the demonstrators may set out on a march from this point. Demonstrators are signing a petition entitled "For the rights of the decent citizen of the Czech Republic", demanding politicians take harsh action to stamp out abuse of the welfare system. 

VIDEO

14:40 – PLZEŇ
About 100 people are protesting against neo-Nazis in Plzeň. For the time being only 20 racists have gathered there.

14:30 – DUCHCOV
On Bratří Čapků Street a pro-Romani "happening" is underway. "There are about 60 people playing music and singing," our correspondent in Duchcov reports.

14:25 – OSTRAVA
There are approximately 500 neo-Nazis on Prokešovo Square.

14:24 – OSTRAVA
The Romani assembly in Ostrava is over. "The last song is being played here. There are only about 50 Romani people left," our correspondent directly at the scene reports. Vladimír Leško, the Roman landlord of the residential hotels on Cihelní Street, handled the closing of the assembly together with police, even though our correspondent reports that he was not its official convener.   

14:15 – PLZEŇ
A police helicopter is flying over Plzeň, police officers are in the side streets along the neo-Nazi march route. 

14:02 – OSTRAVA
Approximately 200 people are on Prokešovo Square, the neo-Nazi meeting place.

14:00 – OSTRAVA
People are holding banners up at the anti-racist event reading "We are equal partners", "No action about us without us" and "Let’s stop the Nazis in time".

13:43 – DĚČÍN
Our correspondent directly on the scene says that Romani people in Děčín have barricaded themselves into one of the buildings near a possible neo-Nazi gathering site. No one can get in or out. "There aren’t that many men here, most of the people here are children or women," our correspondent reports. The square is completely empty and police officers can be seen in the neighborhood. 

13:20 – DUCHCOV
Opponents of neo-Nazism and racism are preparing to draw anti-racist slogans on the sidewalk of the Nazi march route, just as counter-protesters did in České Budějovice. All is quiet in the town for now, there is no sign of the neo-Nazis.

13:15 – PLZEŇ
Police, who have about 700 members of the force available today, have begun driving into the center of town to the main square. They are also monitoring the locality near the Komerční banka branch on the embankment, where at 14:30 the opponents of the march will hold their event. The first participants are gathering at that site.

13:00 – OSTRAVA
The assembly against neo-Nazism has begun in Ostrava. At the start the Czech and Roma anthems were played. Our correspondent on the scene says there are about 350 people there, most of them Romani. According to organizer Jolana Šmarhovyčová, the participation of at least 500 Romani people is anticipated. Buses are transporting them to the site of the demonstration from residential hotels around Ostrava; six such buses have been sent out. 

12:55 – OSTRAVA
The places where neo-Nazis and their opponents are scheduled to gather have been absolutely besieged by municipal and state police officers. Police are monitoring access routes into town. Police officers are searching vehicles and also buses.

12:50
The Czech Green Party (Strana zelených) says it is very disturbed by the growth in anti-Roma sentiment in the Czech Republic, which is culminating in a series of attempted pogroms on the squares and streets of towns in Bohemia and Moravia. "It is up to us alone to manage coexistence between the majority and minorities in our society. It is essential to open a new chapter, because the current state of affairs is simply unsustainable. Ignoring problems and then transforming them into street actions of open hatred and xenophobia will logically just deteriorate the whole situation. Unfortunately, the established political parties are refusing to take up this topic and thereby prevent the intensification and further growth of mutual grudges. The Green Party has formulated a way forward out of this critical situation and is advocating for it, and we are seeking allies among civic initiatives and political parties to implement it," said Ondřej Liška, Czech Green Party chair.

12:38 – PLZEŇ
Preparations for the anti-racist demonstration in Plzeň are in full swing. Activists are preparing signs. The civil protest against the racist demonstration and march will take place in front of the Komerční banka branch on Anglické nábřeží at 14:30.

11:23 – PLZEŇ
Regional Police spokesperson Martina Kohoutová says all is quiet in Plzeň so far. Police as of 11:00 today have not noted any groups of demonstrators arriving in the town. The Czech News Agency reports that nothing is happening in the historical center, where the march is supposed to start. While in the past some shopkeepers preferred to close entirely or board up their windows during simliar events, this time they have not undertaken such measures. Police have instructed residents not to linger along the march route while it is underway and also not to park their cars along it.

11:15 – PLZEŇ
Romani leader Štefan Tišer of Plzeň has called on Romani residents to avoid moving around near the route of today’s march by right-wing extremists through Plzeň and other assemblies. "Our people should not move around on that route, but I can’t forbid them going out to shop or take a walk," Tišer said.

11:01 – JIČÍN
Activists in Jičín are preparing a cultural event as a counterbalance to the neo-Nazi march which is to take place in the town center this afternoon. The protest against the right-wing radicals’ assembly will take place in the Jewish synagogue, under the name "A fairy tale against hatred", organizer Jan Kindermann told the Czech News Agency. "We condemn this march by the DSSS Nazis. We do not agree with the march or the opinions that those people are presenting and disseminating," said Kindermann, who is a member of the Baševi civic association in Jičín, which administers the synagogue.

10:44 – BRNO
Resisters of neo-Nazism and racism in Brno have managed to pull off a tour de force. The Neo-Nazis never announced their plans for a march through a Romani-occupied neighborhood to authorities, so counter-protesters are planning to transform the location into another satirical anti-Nazi "happening", which has been properly announced to authorities as taking place at 14:00 at the same place (the Koliště Park) where the neo-Nazis intended to gather today. "The White Beautification Club did not manage to announce their event, which would have de facto violated the laws of this country, which we all honor above anything and everything else!!! Fortunately a few volunteers were found to take on this bothersome administrative obligation, so:  It’s not over, let’s carry on!" writes the satirical website Žít Brno (Living in Brno). Organizers of the "Picnic against racism and violence" believe they will be welcomed by leading representatives of the city, representatives of sports clubs and social organizations "so they too can express their gratitude and joy for the fact that we all live together in peace in the most beautiful city in the world!"

9:15 – ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
Civil society is protesting against neo-Nazism and racism. Anti-racist slogans have been written along the route of the neo-Nazis’ planned anti-Roma march, symbolizing disagreement with this afternoon’s demonstration. Shortly after dawn, members of the Budějovice against Violence initiative wrote "A.C.A.B. – All Colors are Beautiful", "Skinheads are bad luck", and "Are your eyes blue?" on the sidewalk.

8:30
In the Vyšehrad neighborhood of Prague a satirical "happening" entitled the "March against Czechs" is taking place, convened by the initiative "We don’t want Czechs in the Czech Republic". The group is bothered by the incitement of Czechs against other inhabitants of the Czech Republic. The march will end with a musical performance on the Rašín Embankment.

Friday, 23 August 2013

21:01
The civic association In IUSTITIA has launched a help line for the victims of hate violence in connection with Saturday’s anti-Roma hate marches:  +420 777 187 881. "We condemn hatred, violence, and all of the racist marches planned for Saturday 24 August 2013. We are supporting the non-violent civil protests. We will be running a help line from 08:00 to 24:00 on Saturday, 24 August 2013 for persons subjected to hate violence and witnesses of such incidents," Klára Kalibová of the In IUSTITIA organization told news server Romea.cz.

16:46
Police have completed their preparations for the anti-Roma marches and other demonstrations announced for Saturday. "For the time being we have five towns announced. If someone is convening more marches, for the time being they have not legally, officially filed an announcement of those assemblies with the authorities," a police spokesperson said. "We have an idea of how many such people will turn up in which places, and we are making our preparations on that basis." She refused to communicate further details, instructing us to turn to the police directorates in each region for such information.

15:55
Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková condemned the right-wing radicals’ actions today. "We are witnessing the fact that in various places that differ from one another greatly in their capacities, histories, political representation, sizes and social situations, the extremists are doing their best to exploit people’s problems and their dissatisfaction with the political and social situation," Šimůnková said.

15:00 – OSTRAVA
A demonstration against neo-Nazism and racism entitled "Peace between people" is being planned for Saturday at 14:00 by Romani residents of Ostrava, who have planned their event to take place at the same time that the right-wing radical march is scheduled to take place. Romani residents are planning to meet at the church on Svatopluk Čech Square, while the right-wing extremists have announced their event will start at the monument in the Komenský Orchards and evidently intend to meet up at nearby Prokešovo Square, which Romani residents announced they would be occupying first (as they announced for many other places around Ostrava). Today, however, the Romani organizers cancelled a planned march from Prokešovo Square to Přednádraží Street. "We are cancelling the assembly because of the danger of clashing with the neo-Nazis," convener Imrich Horvát explained. The pro-Romani gathering will therefore only take place on Svatopluk Čech Square.

13:00 – OSTRAVA
The Moravian-Silesian Regional Police claim they are prepared for Saturday’s demonstrations by right-wing radicals and Romani people in Ostrava and that there will be enough police officers on hand, despite the fact that similar protests are planned in other places around the country for that same time. Just as with other security operations of this sort, the police officers will have riot units available, as well as police dogs, mounted officers, and criminal detectives in the field. A police helicopter should monitor the scene, Regional Police Director Tomáš Kužel told journalists today.