Prague, April 25 (CTK) – The unknown perpetrators who scrawled threatening inscriptions or Nazi symbols at several places in Prague at the weekend are suspected of graffiti spread and hate-motivated crimes, police spokesman Tomas Hulan told CTK Saturday.
He said the police suspect them of damaging other’s property with graffiti, inciting to hatred of another group of persons and restricting their rights and freedoms, and of the crime of sympathy for a movement aimed to suppress man’s rights and freedoms.
If found guilty, they face up to three years in prison.
The attacks targeted facilities in the streets and in a metro hall.
All afflicted facilities participate in the HateFree Zone project that promotes approach to all people without hate and violence.
President Milos Zeman said the “hatefree” case must not be abused in a campaign against the decent majority of citizens who reject migration.
“But let us say NO to extremists on both the left and the right,” his spokesman Jiri Ovcacek conveyed his opinion on Twitter.
About 500 people met in a square in the broader centre of Prague in late afternoon to protest against the spraying of Nazi symbols.
By the protest, the organisers wanted to make it clear that the Nazi ideology and violence have no place in Czech society.
The participants, carrying flags and banners, also criticised Zeman. They said Zeman has been telling people, via his spokesman, that a civil war is underway in the Czech Republic. The demonstrators resolutely dismissed the idea.
“Hatred has no place in the Czech Republic,” one of them said.
The meeting was preceded by a manifestative cleaning of one of the afflicted facilities, a cafe in the Prague 10 district. Its owner, Ondrej Kobza, cleaned its walls with the assistance of volunteers including Prague Mayor Adriana Krnacova (ANO).
