Yesterday Police President Petr Lessy told the Czech Press Agency that police are preparing massive security measures in relation to the announced 1 May meeting of the Workers' Youth (Dělnická mládež - DM) in Brno. Lessy emphasized that officers would be brought in to ensure order not only from South Moravia, but also from other regions.
The police president claims he intends to proceed so that the extremists understand that "things will not be rosy for them" in Brno. Lessy's claim comes less than a week after police cleared the way for neo-Nazis who were breaking the law to march through Nový Bydžov after using mounted officers to brutally disperse counter-demonstrators.
The police leadership is said to be displeased that the radicals have been regularly organizing 1 May events in the city rather frequently. "We do not want Brno to become a war zone, but we will not tolerate displays of substandard behavior," said Tomáš Kužel, the South Moravian Regional Police chief.
The DM is connected to the Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS), whose predecessor was the recently dissolved Workers' Party (Dělnická strana - DS). The Supreme Administrative Court ended the DS activity because of its members' radical approaches.
Two years ago, the DS convened a 1 May demonstration in Brno. The court subsequently handed down suspended sentences and fines to their entire leadership for the radical statements made by its members at that event.
The DM has announced two events for 1 May of this year in the center of Brno. Local authorities did not grant permission for either of them. Court disputes over those events ended in a cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court, which recently overturned the municipal decision that one of the events could not be held.
According to many nonprofit organizations, police totally failed during the most recent extremist event in Nový Bydžov. They did not manage to protect local Roma people and dispersed a peaceful counter-demonstration in a brutal way. Organizations such as the Czech Helsinki Committee and ROMEA say police took no action while extremists violated the law.
Romea
