This afternoon a gathering of supporters of the extreme right-wing Dělnická
strana (DS) lasting roughly half an hour took place on Jiřího z Poděbrad square
in Prague. The event took place under exceptional security measures on the part
of the Prague police, due to which the gathering, billed as a "Day of National
Unity", began later than originally scheduled. Speeches were given on the square
by DS chair Tomáš Vandas and Vice-Chair Jiří Štěpánek only. Police estimated
that 150-200 neo-Nazis attended.
Police evaluated the event as a high-risk one beforehand. The party is linked to
neo-Nazi groups such as Národní odpor ("National Resistance" - NO). A neo-Nazi
gathering in Litvínov in mid-October resulted in clashes with police officers;
police were subsequently criticized by civic associations for having been
insufficiently prepared. Around 300-400 right-wing extremists traveled to
Litvínov, roughly the same number that met two months earlier at another
gathering in Hradec Králové. Neither gathering was officially announced to
authorities beforehand.
Dozens of police officers posted at the metro exits began to ask DS supporters
coming to the square to show identification; 13 were detained. Prague police
spokesperson Tomáš Hulan said those detained were carrying weapons that could be
used to either stab or cut, which is against the law on public gatherings. "They
are mostly blade weapons; in one case police officers found paralyzing spray,"
iDNES.cz reports Prague police spokesperson Iva Knolová as saying.
Police officers patrolled on horseback in the surrounding streets and police
dogs were also standing by. There was a police vehicle on the square. The area
was patrolled by a mobile water cannon and armed personnel carrier.
Originally, representatives of various organizations were to have made speeches
at the event, which was convened, according to the invitations, "against the
system and for the nation." However, in the end the entire demonstration was a
fiasco. Neither the advertised guests from the Slovak organization Pospolitost
nor the musical guests arrived. In the end only Vandas and Štěpánek spoke. The
DS chair criticized the police intervention against the neo-Nazis in Litvínov,
the political conditions in the Czech Republic, and the security measures at
today's gathering, calling them intimidation.
Vandas also called on the right-wing extremists to return to Litvínov for
another "action" on 17 November which will target alleged "positive
discrimination" and police brutality. "We will return to Litvínov on 17 November
and the corrupt police will not stop us," Vandas threatened.
Participants in the gathering were mostly dressed in black. Some wore scarves
across their faces, hoods, or dark glasses.
The server iDNES.cz reports that several faces familiar to the media were
visible among the participants, such as Tomáš Kebza, currently being tried for
an incident during last year's Národní odpor ("National Resistance" - NO)
demonstration in Brno; Jiří Švehlík, who organizes financial collections for
prisoners from the neo-Nazi movement; and Petr Kalinovský, the former
self-declared spokesperson for NO who last November shot a gas pistol into the
crowd that was defending Prague's Jewish Quarter against the arrival of
ultra-right wingers from all over Europe.
Police reported one incident related to the demonstration. Shortly before 14:00
at the Jiřího z Poděbrad metro station a group of three youths attacked a
passenger. The passenger was then assisted by a plainclothes police officer, who
gave him first aid and called an ambulance to take him to the hospital on
Karlovo náměstí. "The 20-year-old man suffered a medium-serious head injury,"
Jiřina Ernestová, spokesperson for emergency services, told iDNES.cz. The
unidentified attackers escaped by metro in the direction of Náměstí Míru. Police
are as yet unable to say whether the attackers were heading for the DS
demonstration, but they are continuing the search for them.
More than 500 supporters of the DS, NO and Autonomní nacionalisti ("Autonomous
Nationalists") gathered on Jiřího z Poděbrad square on 1 May. After marching
through the surrounding streets on a route announced in advance, they dispersed
the demonstration themselves. The event took place without incident. That
gathering was officially convened as a Labor Day celebration by the DS.
The DS was formed in January 2003. Some media reports say it has approximately
300 members. Recently information about its connections to several neo-Nazi
organizations have come to light. In its party platform the DS proposes
abolishing all support for immigrants and banning homosexual marriages. The
party also wants to introduce the mandatory listing of an inhabitant's
nationality and confirmation of that ethnic identity in birth certificates and
identity cards.
