08 October 2007
Authorities in the Czech capital Prague have banned a march by neo-Nazis through the city’s Jewish quarter which had been planned for 10 November, to coincide with the anniversary of the Nazis’ “Kristallnacht” pogroms in 1938. The decision by Prague City Hall reverses an earlier announcement by officials who had claimed that they were powerless to stop the march because it had been registered as a protest against "the Czech participation in the occupation of Iraq."
However, a group monitoring racist activity in the Czech Republic pointed out that the march was being spearheaded by the Young National Democrats, which it said was a front for neo-Nazis. Prague’s Jewish community then met with city officials to request that they find some way to cancel the demonstration. Erik Sedlacek of the Young National Democrats told City Hall he would postpone the march until 17 November, a national holiday marking the end of Communist rule in 1989. However the march may not happen since the Jewish Liberal Union, a Jewish congregation in Prague, has now reserved the area for demonstrations for every day through the end of the year.
Meanwhile, police in the Serbian city of Novi Sad have arrested about 30 neo-Nazis after they attacked anti-fascist activists in the northern city of Novi Sad. Officers moved in as the neo-Nazis, who had gathered despite a ban on their planned demonstration, threw bottles and stones towards the protestors as they marched to the town center. The neo-Nazi group “Nacionalni Stroj” [National Guard] had planned the march. It was banned after pressure from the World Jewish Congress.see earlier story on the planned march
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