Czechs take part in weekend protests against ACTA

Prague/Brno, Feb 11 (CTK) - Some 2000 people protested against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in the streets of Prague Saturday, according to the police estimates, and similar protest rallies were staged in Brno, south Moravia, and other Czech towns.

Participants in the demonstrations, which have been called by the Pirate Party, demand that the ACTA ratification be halted.

They also demand a constitutional law to guarantee the free Internet in the Czech Republic, a more transparent debate on international treaties and public control of state institutions and political parties' funding.

Some 1000 people met at the Old Town square in Prague centre shortly after 14:00. Other participants joined them during a march heading for the Government Office where some activists gave speeches.

Then the demonstrators crossed the river again and went to Jan Palach square where the protest was ended.

Some of the participants were earing the Guy Fawkes masks from a cartoon and the film "V for Vendetta" that symbolise the Anonymous group of hackers. They also carried pirate flags and banners with slogans reading "ACTA = Cyberfascism" and "ACTA Smells."

Tens of policemen were monitoring the march.

The ACTA international agreement that has been joined by EU 22 countries, including the Czech Republic, aims to create rules to strengthen the observance of intellectual property rights, fight the spread of illegal copies and counterfeits of all kind, including music, films, medicines, brand clothes as well as consumer electronics.

However, Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) announced this week that the Czech Republic suspended the process of the ACTA's ratification to further analyse its impact.

Representatives of the music industry have criticised the decision.

The opposition Social Democrats (CSSD), on the contrary, called on the government to withdraw from the agreement completely.

"We certainly consider the suspension of the ACTA's ratification a victory, but we do not overestimate it. We want the agreement to be fully halted," Czech Pirate Party deputy chairman Mikulas Ferjencik told CTK.

He added that he expected a total of 10,000 people to participate in all protest rallies in the country. However, the real figures were lower.

Protest meetings were held in some 20 towns all over the Czech Republic Saturday, for instance, in Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava, both north Moravia, Jihlava, south Moravia, Plzen, west Bohemia, Usti nad Labem, north Bohemia, and Pardubice, east Bohemia.

At least 300 people met in the centre of Brno, the second largest town in the Czech Republic, to express their disagreement with the ACTA. They were chanting slogans like "Stop ACTA."

Czech activists joined the worldwide protests against the agreement. Its opponents say the ACTA will limit the Internet freedom.