Monday, April 26, 2010

CZECH FASCISTS DON'T MARCH FAR



Anarchists were all set to confront a marching group of fascists in the town district in Plzen in the Czech Republic this weekend when the Mayor declared the fascists out of order. Personally, I know we can't depend on the state to defend us against fascists, but I'm not going to get down on the Mayor.

The march, announced under the name March in Support of Political Prisoners, lasted a few minutes and the participants were only able to proceed a short distance. The right wing racists waved black and red-and white flags with the Czech lion and a number of banners. Before the march started, the police checked whether the banners and flags complied with the law. They decided they did not.

The rally was attended by some 150-200 people.

The following is from dokumentationsarchiv. 

Nazi debacle in Plzeň: 100 Nazis, six of them detained, 200 counter-protesters

Yesterday Jiří Strobach, magistrate of the central municipal district of Plzeň, dispersed a previously announced Nazi march shortly after it began. Deputy Regional Police Director Jaromír Kníže later told journalists the demonstration had been dispersed because the slogans on the clothing of some participants were most probably illegal. High Commissioner Jana Václavová told the Czech Press Agency that police had detained four people at the march, including a foreign national, and detained another two after it was dispersed. Strobach said the gathering fundamentally deviated from its stated purpose as described to the authorities in January by the conveners, "support for political prisoners". At the time it was announced, officials had no legal reason to ban the event. "Some of the speeches by the participants in this gathering (today) clearly showed that there was a fundamental deviation from the stated purpose of the gathering, and that is a violation of the law on assembly. Other laws were broken by speeches aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. We warned the organizers the law was being broken, but they did not correct the situation," the magistrate said. (…) Those suspected of committing the crime of promoting the suppression of human rights include a 26-year-old native of Plzeň, a 32-year-old native of Ostrava, and a 22-year-old man from the southern Plzeň region, all of whom were wearing clothing with objectionable inscriptions. Václavová later specified that a 26-year-old foreign national was suspected of demonstrating sympathy for a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms due to a tattoo of an objectionable symbol on a part of his body clearly visible to others. Police later detained a 40-year-old man from the northern Plzeň region and a 20-year-old Praguer over slogans on their clothing. A 29-year-old man from Plzeň was also taken into custody on suspicion of committing a misdemeanor against public order. "The decision to initiate criminal proceedings against specific individuals will be made on the basis of expert evaluations," Václavová said. A cordon of police officers directed the marchers, some of whom were evidently German and Polish nationals, toward the bus station, preventing them from entering the center of town. At Husovo náměstí (Hus Square) officers recommended various routes for dispersal, and the demonstrators slowly left in small groups for their cars or for the bus station. Police were prepared to monitor the situation in the town for the rest of the day.

viaRomea.cz – Nazi debacle in Plzeň: 100 Nazis, six of them detained, 200 counter-protesters.

No comments: