Brno, July 5 (CTK) – Czech opponents of Islam burnt pages of Quran before the local mosque at a permitted public rally called by the Martin Konvicka Initiative group Tuesday, Petr Stika, secretary of the local town hall who watched the event along with the police, has told CTK.
The rally was attended by tens of people, Stika said, adding that the police did not have to intervene.
Organisers of the rally said it had been designed to highlight the incompatibility of Czech and Muslim communities in connection with the migrant wave.
At first, pork was to be grilled and sold and alcohol drunk outside the mosque. However, this was banned by the town hall.
The participants in the rally circumvented the ban by toasting beer at the opening of an exhibition that was part of the event.
Instead of selling pork, they were distributing goulash to the passers-by, which was permitted.
Stika said nothing serious had happened and the rally was quiet, except for its troubled end.
“The participants distributed pages of Quran among themselves. Konvicka asked them bo burn them,” Stika said.
“He had a bucket on the rostrum into which he threw the burning pages. Others followed suit,” he added.
“For the time being, I am unable to qualify this when it comes to the legal aspect, but I will certainly consult the Interior Ministry and I will propose that minor offence proceedings be started,” Stika said.
Stika said the situation in which the opponents of Islam had sent girls in swimsuits to the mosque was unsuitable, too.
Stika then asked the organisers to stop the provocation and the girls left.
Organiser David Nepimach told CTK that the rally was to highlight Czechs’ traditions.
“We want to eat and drink whatever we want and we want to dress as we wish,” Nepimach said.
“If anyone dislikes this while on a visit here, let him go,” he added.
“It is impossible that someone comes here and orders us what to drink, eat and do and how to dress,” Nepimach said,
The Brno mosque was the first to be established in the Czech Republic in 1998. There are an estimated 1,000 Muslims in Brno.
