Prague cannot ban extremists' march against Iraq's occupation

The Prague City Hall cannot ban the march through Prague’s Jewish Quarter scheduled for November 10 since the organisers have officially called it a "protest against the Czech Republic’s participation in the occupation of Iraq," City Hall spokesman Jiri Wolf told CTK today.

However, the daily Hospodarske noviny writes today that neo-Nazis actually want to march through the Prague Jewish Quarter, though officially the protest is being organised by Young National Democrats.

"The protest is declared to be a demonstration against the Czech participation in the occupation of Iraq. This is a legal reason that does not allow us to ban the demonstration," Wolf said.

The authority may, however, ban the protest on the spot if law is violated, Wolf added.

It plays no role that a person considered a neo-Nazi activist, Erik Sedlacek, is linked with the organisation of the march, Wolf said.

The march is to be held on the anniversary day of the Nazi anti-Jewish pogrom Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938 when tens of Jews were killed and tens of thousands of them were deported to concentration camps.

The neo-Nazis planned a similar march in January 2003 in protest against the alleged Holocaust committed by Israel on Palestinians.

The march against which about 150 anarchists, anti-fascists and members of the Jewish Liberal Union protested was banned by a city official on the spot then.