On the 10th of November, the anniversary of the Kristallnacht anti-Jew pogrom in Nazi Germany, right-wing extremists led by the Young National Democrats group planned a march through Prague's Jewish Quarter, Jozefov. Besides the obvious insensitivity of the group to the the city's Jewish history, Prague officials worried about the potential for violent confrontations were the march to go on, and they banned it. In the end, the march turned into a demonstration, but the counter-demonstrators far outnumbered the demonstrators, and while there were some isolated incidents of violence, the large police force present kept the conflict to a minimum.
However, now the Prague police have been sued over their involvement in the demonstration. Police detained several hundred neo-Nazis during the event, and Prague lawyer Klara Slamova has lodged a complaint against the Prague police on behalf of the rightist group. The charges in question are the crimes of abuse of power and curtailment of personal freedom against the demonstrators. Charges have been filed but the case likely will not go to court for some time. |