Czech Republic: Conveners of demonstration in Duchcov push for mass murder of Romani people

Jan Dufek and Jindřich Svoboda are the organizers of what so far has been just one anti-Roma demonstration in the Czech town of Duchcov, a protest that was followed by an attempted march on Romani people’s residences, but the pair have announced other demonstrations for the future. Mayor Jitka Bártová recently did her best to calm the situation in the town after the demonstration by convening a public discussion.

When that discussion was over, Míra Brož of the Konexe association told Dufek and Svoboda:  "Gentlemen, every march really makes it worse and escalates it." Jan Dufek responded:  "That’s good, at least the people will finally rise up and murder them all."

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As can be seen from this statement, Dufek and Svoboda are convening these anti-Roma demonstrations in order to deteriorate and escalate the situation such that non-Romani people will start murdering Romani ones. For the time being only Dufek has made such statements on camera.

As news server Romea.cz previously reported, Jindřich Svoboda expressed himself in the same words previously on his Facebook profile:  "So finally it’s out! The secret video of the assault in Duchcov! Those black fuckers! They should all be massacred! How much longer will we tolerate this? I propose that it is time to unite and fucking give them what for! I’m going to go throw up and then I’m going to sharpen my knives…."

"Jan Dufek may have committed a felony per Section 356 of the Criminal Code by making a statement inciting hatred against a group of people and/or restrictions on their rights and freedoms. Because he did that through television, he could face between six months and three years in prison should he be charged and convicted," lawyer David Oplatek, who has long been involved in litigating hate crimes, told news server Romea.cz.

The same risk was taken by Jindřich Svoboda in his Facebook statement, according to legal expertise. Police have already begun investigating Svoboda’s Facebook posts. "We called Mr Svoboda in and he has given us a statement. We are continuing to work on the case," police spokesperson Veronika Hyšplerová told news server Romea.cz.

According to Antifa, both conveners of the anti-Romani actions in Duchcov are neo-Nazis. "Dufek is a longtime neo-Nazi activist. He has been previously convicted of giving the Nazi salute, weapons possession, and welfare fraud. He has reportedly also previously participated, along with a larger group of people, in attacking a group of Romani people in Slovakia. While standing on the main square in the town of Krupina there, he first insulted Romani people, gave the Nazi salute, threatened to shoot them in the head, and then physically assaulted them," Antifa writes in a press release.

Jindřich Svoboda, known by the nickname "Pinďa", defended himself in a Facebook post stating that he is neither an extremist nor a radical. However, he also admitted being a member of the right-wing extremist Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS).

Neo-Nazis and other ultra-right extremists are now competing with activists from the opposing camp to see who can announce more events in the town of Duchcov. The Konexe association and the Otrokem rasy ("Slave of Race") initiative have already announced events for several public spaces for as far as three months in advance, but the DSSS, Dufek and Svoboda are neck and neck with them in terms of making their own announcements. An overview of the events announced there is available on the town’s official website.