Dublin demonstration against violent Czech riot police suppression of festival

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Thursday August 04, 2005 12:05 by Joe - WSM 1st of May (personal capacity)

A small demonstration took place at the Czech embassy in Dublin yesterday to protest at the violent repression in the Czech republic of a free festival. During the repression one person was killed as the police used tear gas, stun grenades, water cannon, APC's and riot squads on the peaceful crowd.

Around ten people attended the demonstration which had been called by Czechs living in Dublin. Posters explaining what had happened were taped onto the embassy gates and onto surrounding trees and posts. Leaflets were distributed to people passing by. Graffiti reading 'You can't stop the dancing' had been sprayed outside the embassy.

A laptop with a film of the police attack had been brought along. The film clearly shows lines of riot police firing stun grenades into the crowds of festival goers before attacking them with water cannon. As posters on the gate explained a legal agreement had been signed with the owner of the land the festival was on.

It is very hard to understand what the possible motivation was behind the police attack. They are only claiming they were protecting neighbooring land but the Czech Prime Minister has suggested that the real reason was that the festival was believed to be organised by anarchists. He stated " These are no dancing children. .......... This core is build from people with dangerous anarchist's thrives and they are internationally connected.......... and hour after hour thousands come and the police forces cannot stop them."

There are many good links and further details of what happened on indymedia.ie at http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=71268

Comparisons with the infamous police riot at the Mayday 2002 RTS are inevitable but this was a much more planned affair that involved transporting 1200 riot police, water cannons and APC's to the rural location where the festival was held. It appears that in the Czech republic there is no longer to be any room for any sort of alternative at all!

The flyer that was given out

A board with detials of what happened was stuck to the gate