Some 300 rightist radicals marching through Czech city

About 1000 policemen, including hundreds of members of the riot police, are ready to take action against the radicals who want to cover a five-kilometre-long route.

The city centre has been almost empty since the morning, shops well protected against possible attacks.

According to a CTK reporter, the rightist radicals are equipped with cobblestones. They are dressed in black, or black block style, and they are marching in fives to the sound of drums that some of them are carrying.

The demonstrators, carrying candles, are accompanied by the riot police, dog handlers and mounted police.

The Autonomous Nationalists say they want to commemorate the victims of an allied bombing of the city 64 years ago.

The march opponents claim that this is but an excuse for commemorating the 120th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler.

The demonstrators are carrying two posters - one Czech, one German. The German poster lists the German towns bombed out during World War Two by the Allies, such Hamburg and Dresden, and silhouettes of planes and bombs.

The Czech poster is similar. It lists towns like Usti nad Labem, Brno and Prague, and an inscription says "We will not forget, Autonomous Nationalists."

The participants were addressed before the march by representatives of the Czech and German ultra-right scenes.

They spoke about the bombing and other historical topics.

A woman form Chemnitz, Saxony, remembered the event called Usti massacre, or a pogrom in which minimally 50 Sudeten Germans died in Usti nad Labem on July 31, 1945. The woman spoke about 2000 victims.

Jarmila Hrubesova, spokeswoman for the north Bohemian police, said 15 rightist radicals attempted to penetrate into the Usti neighbourhood Predlice that is inhabited mainly by Romanies.

Hrubesova said the police prevented clashes.

The police have been carrying out checks at incoming roads and at railway stations. They seized some dangerous objects, such as knives, rods, machetes and gas pistols.

Minimally 512 people died in the bombing of Usti nad Labem on April 17 and 19, 1945. A total of 165 houses were destroyed, and another 65 buildings suffered heavy damage, 85 medium damage and more than 500 buildings were lightly damaged.

Usti nad Labem was the third most heavily bombed Czech town, after Plzen, west Bohemia, and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Central Bohemia.

The Autonomous Nationalists say on their web page that the bombing was unsubstantiated and that up to 1500 people died in it according to "some estimates."

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz