Prague, Oct 5 (CTK) – The Czech police punished or intimidated critics of President Milos Zeman on several occasions in the past year, but no politician protested against it, weekly Respekt writes in its latest issue out Monday.
The defence wall that the police and state authorities created around Zeman reminds of the Czechoslovak communist era, Respekt writes.
In November 2014, the police banned one man’s protest against Zeman under a fabricated pretext that he might harm the president’s health, but no violent threat was proved, Respekt writes.
In June, a woman protested against Zeman during his meeting with the local people in Havlickuv Brod, east Bohemia. The moderator of the meeting, former communist-era journalist Stepan Skorpil, called on the crowd to let the woman know what they think about her protest. The woman was vulgarly offended and physically attacked by one of Zeman’s supporters, the weekly writes.
When the police escorted the woman from the town’s square with a bruise, Skorpil told the crowd that the lady would probably decide to move to the United States where she would feel better. Zeman said the woman was mad because she was getting divorced, which was a comment he made up, Respekt writes.
It writes that the woman was even fined for disturbing public order.
When Zeman visited Trinec, north Moravia, in September, employees of a small firm displayed red T-shirts in their window in such a way that they looked like trunks, protesting against Zeman in this way, Respekt writes.
Last month, members of the Czech art group replaced the presidential standard with red trunks on the roof of his palace in protest against Zeman and his support for Russia, China and “dubious dictators.”
But men introducing themselves as the criminal police arrived and ordered the Trinec employees to remove the “trunks” from the window because it threatened the head of state. Their firm could get into trouble unless they obeyed the order, the men said according to Respekt.
In the three above cases, the police officers should have acted in the very opposite manner: they should guarantee the citizens’ right to protest and detain the man who hit the woman protesting in Havlickuv Brod. Their steps are unacceptable, but the police officers simply act in a way they believe they are expected to act, Respekt writes.
What is more important is that nobody in Czech society loudly protested against such police action and nobody tried to change the way police reflexively behaved. In this moment, politicians should have clearly said “We don’t need such protection.” They also might have met the attacked lady from Havlickuv Brod and let her know that she definitely is no enemy of the state, Respekt writes.
It says Milos Zeman showed long ago that he is not an unbiased president for all the people. He is revengeful, vulgar and often manipulative. He has the right to do it, but he must be ready to stand the reaction to this. The fact that he cannot bear a protest of a single lady tells a lot about him. But the police should not have been helping him with this problem, Respekt writes.
In this context, the trunk protest of the Ztohoven art group was an important reminder that one can make fun of the president, the weekly writes.
