Prague, March 16 (CTK) – Neither the police nor the City Hall violated law by not having let demonstrators enter a square outside Prague Castle during the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping last March, the Prague Municipal Court ruled on Thursday in reaction to a former minister’s complaint.
The court turned down an administrative complaint filed by former Deputy PM and environment minister Martin Bursik and another three organisers of the demonstration.
In reaction to the verdict, Bursik told reporters that he would turn to the Supreme Administrative Court.
“The police decisions and particular steps are covered by legal regulations they followed – the laws on roads and on police,” court panel chairman Ladislav Hejtmanek said.
Protesters wanted to express their disagreement with China’s human rights policy on March 29, 2016, but the police did not allow them to enter the planned place of the meeting, Hradcany square outside Prague Castle, the presidential seat.
Bursik’s complaint points out that a demonstration can only be banned within three days since its announcement, which did not happen in this case. Despite that, the police closed the square preventing both pedestrians and vehicles from entering it for security reasons.
Bursik claims that the police thereby violated the assembly right embedded in the constitution.
The complainants say they believe that the Communist Party of China demands special rules for state bodies and police to follow during the planning of the Chinese president’s official visits to secure that the president would not face expressions of solidarity with Tibet.
The security measures during Xi Jinping’s visit amounted to some 16 million crowns and about 1000 police officers were deployed daily to see to his safety.
The police detained 23 people in connection with Xi Jinping’s visit, both his opponents and supporters. They assessed most of the incidents as misdemeanours.
The police faced criticism for their steps against demonstrators and other expressions of disagreement with Chinese policy. The internal police investigation has concluded that police officers made a mistake only by their intervention at the Film Academy (FAMU) that hoisted a Tibetan flag.
