Prague, Sept 22 (CTK) – The Prague Municipal Court abolished Tuesday’s public hearing of a complaint by the Centre of Muslim Communities about a police raid on Prague Muslim centres in 2014 and it will give a verdict in a closed hearing, the court’s spokeswoman Marketa Puci has told CTK.
Representatives of both the Muslim community and police asked for a closed hearing, which is allowed by the Administrative Procedure Code.
The Centre of Muslim Communities seeks a verdict that would say that the part of the raid that disturbed the regular prayer of Muslims was unlawful.
The police penetrated the premises of the Centre of Muslim Communities, the Muslim Community Prague and the Islamic Foundation off Wenceslas Square and on the eastern edge of Prague on April 25, 2014.
The raid took place during a Friday prayer that is of a special importance for Muslims. A number of the prayer participants, including foreign diplomats, complained about the raid.
The participants said they had to lay down with their faces to the ground, that the police pointed their guns at them and that they walked in the prayer rooms in shoes, which is banned by the Muslim religion.
The raid was carried out based on a home search order issued by the Prague 1 district court. The Interior Ministry investigated the case and said the raid did not violate law.
However, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) said at the same time he comprehends the Muslim community’s indignation and asked the police to take all aspects and risks into account in possible future similar raids.
A police check concluded that the police officers acted before the Friday prayer started and so could not disturb it. According to the check, the police asked diplomats, women, children and the handicapped to immediately leave the place.
