During the march, some of the participants assaulted bodyguards of a TV crew as they might regard them ultra-right followers. After the meeting, the anarchists will probably attend the 3rd May Day festival in Prague organised by the Anti-fascist Action. Over 1000 policemen, both in uniforms and plain clothes as well as members of the riot team, were deployed to monitor the extremists' events in the capital. The DSSS is a successor to the scrapped extremist Workers' Party (DS). The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) decided to dissolve the DS in February, complying with the proposal of the government saying the DS is extremist and poses a threat to democracy.
The court concluded that the DS's programme, ideas and symbols contain the elements of xenophobia, chauvinism, homophobia and a racist subtext. DSSS supporters today listened to a speech by party election leader Tomas Vandas, former DS chairman, and they carried flags of the DS and DSSS. Vandas said if the court abolished the DSSS as well, another successor entity would be established. In his speech he attacked all parties and pointed to the communist past of some current Czech politicians. He also rejected further EU integration and a possible adoption of the euro single European currency by the Czech Republic. "Our interest is the Czech Republic with its national government that will defend Czech citizens' interests," Vandas said.
Other speeches and music performances followed. Among the participants was Romany Jaroslav Suchy, the man who stroked U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Prague last April, and who unsuccessfully sought asylum in Canada. Some of DSSS supporters took a picture with him. Six people, including four DSSS election leaders - Vandas, deputy chairmen Jiri Stepanek and Petr Kotaba and Delnicke listy paper editor-in-chief Martin Zbela, were recently charged over their racist manifestations at the May Day celebrations in Brno last year that were attended by some 500 supporters of the DS.
Prague Monitor
