The Czech Police have broken up a cell of the neo-Nazi Wotan Jugend organization from Russia in the Czech Republic. Five people have been charged on suspicion of establishing, promoting and supporting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms.
If convicted, the cell members face up to five years in prison. Prague Police spokesperson Andrea Zoulová informed the Czech News Agency of the charges today.
Czech Television has also reported on the case. The Antifa.cz website has written about Wotan Jugend in detail.
Detectives from the anti-extremist division, according to Zoulová, investigated the establishment of a Czech cell of the Russian neo-Nazi organization Wotan Jugend by a 21-year-old foreigner living permanently in the Czech Republic and another person who is currently serving a prison sentence for a racially-motivated violent crime. Zoulová said Prague police have been investigating the case for several months now.
According to information received by news server Romea.cz, the leader of Wotan Jugend is 21-year-old Sergei Busygin of Russia. The Antifa.cz website reports that he has been living in Prague for some time, that he received permanent residency in the Czech Republic in 2013, that he remains in contact with the Russian neo-Nazi scene, and that he regularly travels to Russia.
"His ties extend to members of the M8l8tX band. With their permission, and with the aid of his girlfriend Markéta L., who is a few years older than him, he is doing his best to sell promotional flags and t-shirts for his organization to his friends in Bohemia and elsewhere around Europe," Antifa.cz reports.
In 2012 Busygin was seen attending a protest against the Prague Pride parade for LGBT rights. Antifa.cz reports that Dan Houdek, who is known from a photograph taken of him giving the Nazi salute last year at an anti-Romani demonstration in České Budějovice, is also a member of Wotan Jugend.
Houdek is currently in prison. Police say Wotan Jugend was first established by members of the Moloth band in 2008 in Russia.
The detectives say the movement is based on the idea of providing financial, ideological, and propaganda support for prisoners convicted of committing crimes motivated by ethnic, nationalist or racist hatred. The movement is also closely linked to the musical trend of "NS" black metal.
Police say Wotan Jugend raises money to promote and support itself through the sale of CDs, clothing, stickers, and other stuff with either the motif of the movement or of the Moloth band on it. They also raise money by holding concerts, donation drives or sports events under the auspices of the movement.
