Monday, November the 17th, Litvínov: smoke, thrown bottles, tear gas. Scenes of chaos and violence came to the fore as police struggled to subdue the most aggressive demonstrators, some of them badly bloodied. Radicals from around the Czech Republic, many of them supporters of the ultra-right Workers’ Party had gathered in Litvínov for a planned protest march; their attempt to storm the neighbourhood of Janov, largely populated by Roma residents, set off the three-hour battle. Police in riot gear, some of them on horseback, had been given the strictest orders to prevent Neo-Nazis from breaking through and in the end they succeeded. Nonetheless, it was one of the ugliest clashes involving the far-right, says Zdeněk Zbořil, a political scientist specialising in extremist movements.
He himself was at the scene: “It was worse in person than on TV because many locals joined the right-wing extremists. There were about 500 ultra right-wingers but together with the locals there were maybe more than 1,200. They left in the final push for Janov, but showed support for the extremists until then. They said that it was impossible to live next to the Roma, and that there was absolutely no communication between the communities. So, things have really escalated and in a way it’s ‘too late’. I’ve seen demonstrations where radicals used the Hitler salute, but this is the first time I’ve seen such support from locals – this was something different.
A special conflict resolution team was deployed by the police, designed to prevent an escalation of violence at demonstrations or sports events. On Saturday in Litvínov, the team had to calm down both sides.
Two weeks ago, the police prevented a similar conflict in the Janov neighbourhood, where 70 Roma armed with sticks, golf clubs and axe handles were facing an approaching crowd of Workers' Party supporters.
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