Ultra right's event in Litvinov unacceptable - Czech minister

Michael Kocab, the new Czech minister in charge of human rights and minorities, today labelled "totally unacceptable" the event the far-right Workers' Party (DS) staged in Janov, Romany-populated housing estate in the north Bohemian town Litvinov, on Saturday.

About 30 members of the DS "patrols" marched through Janov, an area with prevailing low-income residents, mainly Romanies before noon on Saturday.

No incidents accompanied the march, but a few months ago the DS's similar action resulted it a clash between the extremists and the police who tried to prevent them from entering Janov.

On Saturday, the DS patrols distributed leaflets to "white" local residents, along with questionaries enquiring into how they are satisfied with the measures the town hall has taken to restore order in Janov.

Local Romanies watched the patrols from the windows and balconies of their flats, scolded them and asked them to leave Janov.

Many of the "white" residents express open support for the right-wing radicals.

"The DS's manners are in many points reminiscent of the situation in Germany before the arrival of Nazism, when militant SA groups, too, first monitored the streets of German cities, but they quickly switched to armed violence," Kocab said today in a press release given to CTK.

He said he will convoke a meeting to discuss Romanies' integration in the majority society and their social exclusion.

Some time ago the Czech government proposed that the court outlaw the DS over its repeated violation of law.

In reaction to it, DS chairman Tomas Vandas said that a new party with a programme similar to the DS's would emerge in a fortnight if the DS were banned.