Neo-Nazis head to Kladno today

Neo-Nazis have called online for a St. Václav’s Day demonstration this afternoon in Kladno. The event was properly announced to the authorities and will be monitored by municipal officials and the state police. The town hall is prepared to disperse the gathering should illegal behavior take place.

According to information obtained by Romea.cz, the event was announced by Jiří Bunda, a regular speaker at neo-Nazi demonstrations who made an unsuccessful bid in the 2006 regional elections with the Právo a Spravedlnost (“Law and Justice”) party. During the 2008 regional elections he ran as a Workers’ Party candidate. In the past Bunda has also been a member of the Vlastenecká fronta (“Patriotic Front”) and Národní sjednocení (“National Unity”) organizations. He also attends events organized by National Resistance. Lastly, Bunda was the announcer of the march by Autonomous Nationalists on 17 November 2008 in Litvínov which turned into an attempted pogrom on the Roma living at the Janov housing estate there.

Similar events have taken place in Kladno on the St. Václav holiday in recent years. Last year the event was convened by the Workers’ Party and the Autonomous Nationalists. Up to 300 participants were monitored by mounted police and a helicopter. Anarchists were also on the scene, but police officers did not have to handle any serious incidents.

Just like last year, this year’s St. Václav demonstration is to take place on náměstí Sítná, which is not in the town center. The town hall does not often ban marches or demonstrations, claiming the information listed in the announcement of the event usually does not give them enough grounds to do so. While the town has previously banned some marches announced by radical groups, those decisions have often been subsequently overturned by the courts.