Neo-Nazis Met By Thousands of Protestors in Prague
Thousands rallied against neo-Nazism in Prague as Czech police prevented a right-wing extremist march.
A high court had banned Saturday’s march through the city’s Jewish quarter by neo-Nazis on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Instead, thousands of Jews and their supporters turned up for a Sabbath prayer by Chief Rabbi Karol Sidon, and speeches against extremism by Archbishop Miroslav Vlk and Deputy Prime Minister Cyril Svoboda, in front of the 13th-century Old-New Synagogue.
Some 1,400 police sealed off the Jewish quarter to prevent neo-Nazis from entering and headed them off at metros on the outskirts of the city. Demonstrators against neo-Nazi extremism also attended an event spearheaded by the Jewish Liberal Union on Old Town Square, where Mayor Pavel Bem addressed a crowd of several thousand.
Some 2,000 anti-fascists and anarchists in the Old Town also marched. Both groups skirmished with a handful of skinheads in the city and clashed, as well, with police. Six injuries were reported, and 396 people were detained by police.
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