Prague, Oct 31 (CTK) – The Prague Municipal Court has cancelled the ban on a march to be held by opponents of President Milos Zeman on the national holiday on November 17, its organiser, activist Jan Cemper, told CTK on Monday.
The Prague City hall banned the march since its route would cross meetings of Zeman’ supporters. It said the real aim of the march was to provoke clashes. Cemper denies it.
November 17 is the Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy that commemorates student demonstrations under the Nazi occupation in 1939 and against the Communist regime in 1989.
Cemper said the march would only lead around the other meetings, such as a rally against the alleged threat of Islamisation of the Czech Republic, held by the Domov (Home) association and the Bloc against Islamisation.
This is why Cemper turned to the court that had cancelled the City Hall’s decision from October 27. The City Hall can file a special complaint against the court’s verdict.
Cemper claims that he did not know about the other events beforehand. “We have been planning our meeting since May when we did not know about the events of the president’s supporters at all,” he said.
However, he confirmed that apart from commemorating the persecution of students in 1939 and the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the march should express criticism of Zeman’s policy.
