Brno, Czech Republic: Anti-Ukrainian, xenophobic demonstration features controversial Romani community member

Classic pro-Russian propaganda and calls for the Government to resign were heard at the demonstration. Netík opened the assembly by claiming that the people gathered in front of the Janáček Theater were neither extremists nor racists.

“They say we’re some kind of racists, that we’re even Nazis! I don’t get how they could arrive at that conclusion,” Netík said in his opening remarks – this from a person who alleged last year that only the “Blacks” fleeing Ukraine were being given aid.

Speaking in a video he produced in March 2022, Netík made the following claims: “The borders are full of migrants, inadaptables, arrogant guys who are turning their noses up at our donations. The mothers who are there, poor things, are just getting biscuits, they’re absolutely frozen, in tents, they’re waiting to see if somebody will select them. They’re privileging the Blacks, whom they’re sending on a heated bus to the Czech Republic and Slovakia.”

Jakub Netík: The Czech Government is responsible for the death of Nicolas, there is no war in Ukraine

Netík reminded those assembled that the demonstration was being held in order to call “for security in the Czech Republic and for support for upholding democracy and the fundamental rights and freedoms of our citizens.” “When we speak of citizens, we mean all of us. You are all Czechs, every single one of you. Show me your identification, I’ll convince you all that you’re as Czech as can be. I am glad that I am here among my own kind,” he said to the 60 or so Romani people who were listening.

Next, in the spirit of Russian propaganda, Netík alleged falsely that there is no war in Ukraine and that the Russians voluntarily withdrew from Kyiv as part of an agreement but that Ukraine is not keeping its side of the bargain. All of this naturally is happening with the support of the USA and “the West”, in his telling.

Controversial Romani community member David Mezei was in attendance, and because there were not very many people in front of the theater 20 minutes before the demonstration was scheduled to start, he began to make a scene during his live Facebook broadcast asking where all of Brno’s Roma were. “Brno, Brno, Brno! Where are you all? Where are you, Bratislavská Street, Cejl Street. Come here today. You all wanted a demonstration, so you have one here, where are you all? The gadje [non-Roma] are waiting for you all here. This is for you!” he said in an unsuccessful attempt to churn up a riot among local Roma.

Netík and other speakers then accused the Government of being directly responsible for the death of young Nicolas. According to Netík, the Government is also partially promoting Nazism.

Another speaker, Jan Machač, in an openly anti-refugee, anti-Ukrainian and xenophobic speech, called the current Government worse than the Government of Emil Hácha during the Second World War. The remarks by the next speaker, Zuzana Vedralová, were then interrupted by a young Romani man who began to shout: “I’ve had enough of this, this is not a demonstration for Romani people!”

The convener of the demonstration then gave the youth the floor. He thanked everybody who is not indifferent to what has been happening to the Romani community.

“We are here for our children because we, as parents, are here for them, just for them,” he said, adding that the Government is not arranging conditions for people to make a dignified living. “We want a dignified life. We don’t have to differentiate ourselves into Roma and Czechs, we are one nation,” he added before calling for everybody, extremists included, to protest against the Government so it resigns.

Another openly anti-Ukrainian, xenophobic speech was then made by Aleš Svoboda, an infamous disinformation purveyor. “What happened is the Government has allowed in absolutely everybody, uncontrollably. Nobody knows how many of them are here and we don’t want them here!” he shouted into the microphone before alleging that the media are reporting the opposite of his claims.

“Ninety percent of people will say to you that they don’t want them here, they’re inadaptables, they’re absolutely different people, and on top of that they’re murdering us here,” Svoboda said, adding in the same breath that he doesn’t want to tar everybody with the same brush. “They released the prisoners and they sent them all here to us. Who’s responsible for that?” Svoboda asked, and the demonstrators then responded: “The Government!”

Lubomír Volný reborn as guardian of the Roma, says they are worth less to the Government than the Ukrainians

Ex-lawmaker Lubomír Volný was also on the scene to beat a drum for the dead Romani youth. This is the same man who, in July 2021, gave an openly racist speech full of insults against Romani men and women on the floor of the lower house.

Volný even alleged in those remarks that “incest is an integral part of Romani culture.” In his Brno remarks on Saturday, he alleged that in the Czech Republic, what’s on the rise are “the rights of deviant men who will dress up as women so they can rape children.”

The former MP alleged that such persons have the most rights now, followed by the Ukrainians. He then reiterated the narrative that was quite frequently used directly against the Romani Ukrainians who were seeking temporary protection in May 2022, alleging falsely that there is no war in the west of Ukraine and that people from there are therefore not fleeing any war.

Volný next alleged that the man who killed Nicolas is a deserter. “Because whatever kind of conflict has been underway, whatever that Ukrainian youth has done, he is of military age and is supposed to be at home to serve,” he opined, to the agreement of those present.

The ex-lawmaker then spoke directly to the Romani people who were present. “Your elites have disappointed you all in exactly the same way as the Government of the Czech Republic has disappointed you. Your elites, who are meant to represent your interests, have allowed themselves to be bought, just like the politicians in the Parliament of the Czech Republic,” he thundered.

“They’ve allowed themselves to be corrupted and/or intimidated,” Volný alleged, going on to say that was why Romani elites refused to attend previous public events which were meant to be against violence. He then manipulated the Romani demonstrators even more by recalling the many anti-Romani pogroms that have happened in Ukraine, alleging that currently the media is “not being allowed” to report them.

Volný then even alleged that Romani people are actively defending themselves against being conscripted into the Army of Ukraine. “The Romani community in Ukraine is one of the few that manages to actively defend themselves against being recruited into the Army of Ukraine, because when the Ukrainian recruiters arrive in an area where the Romani community is settled, the Roma beat up the recruiters, chasing them away,” he alleged to applause from the Romani men and women who were present.

The former legislator then stoked the anti-Ukrainian sentiment among Romani people even further when he alleged, for example, that Romani people are worth less to the Czech Government than Ukrainians. “You all were downgraded just like all the rest of us were by the war on Ukraine and the Ukrainian deserters,” Volný alleged, then scared those present with the idea of authorization orders for military service and mobilization.

“They’re going to want you all to go to war instead of them. They’re going to want you to abandon your families!” the ex-lawmaker emotionally continued, recommending to everybody that they prepare to flee the Czech Republic.

Štefan Bartók: “Gypsy” is not a vulgar word

Another xenophobic speech was then made by an ex-police officer, Štefan Bartók, who called the Czech Government a puppet of Ukraine, vulgarly abused the Czech Defense Minister, and then reiterated some disinformation about COVID-19. Next he said he has nothing against “gypsies”.

“Where I’m from, in Náchod, [the Roma] say ‘We’re gypsies’. They’re proud of it. Isn’t that so? Is ‘gypsy’ a vulgar word?” Bartók asked, and the demonstrators responded: “Nooooo!”

In the next part of his speech, the former cop reiterated anti-Ukrainian narratives, for example, that the inhabitants of the Czech Republic have to work for the Ukrainians, and again repeated the disinformation about prisoners being released in Ukraine. “Cuckoos lay eggs in other birds’ nests, there will be four other little eggs there and the cuckoo egg turns out to be there with the rest, and the hatched cuckoo grows and grows and grows and starts pushing the original chicks out of the nest, that’s how it is. The cuckoo throws all the rest of them out of the nest. Who remains in the nest? The cuckoo,” Bartók described today’s situation in the Czech Republic with regard to temporarily protected Ukrainians.

David Mezei’s anti-Ukrainian, hysterical speech: The descendants of the Fascists have come here, we don’t want them here

The closer was the anti-Ukrainian, xenophobic speech of David Mezei. “We have to shut this down, we want security. I am afraid! There are a lot of them here in Brno. The Government is supporting alcoholics, homeless, murderers and vermin,” he hysterically shouted into the microphone about the temporarily protected Ukrainians.

“I guarantee you all, I will do my best, with all my strength, to get this before the Government. With the nation in unity and strength! Don’t stay at home in your armchairs!” Mezei yelled in a speech that was incomprehensible at times, alleging that the situation today is worse than “during the skinhead times.”

“The descendants of Fascists have come here, Banderites, brutes. We don’t want them here!” Mezei stammered his hate for temporarily protected Ukrainians before calling the pro-Russian disinformation purveyor Netík his “brother”.

Mezei next alleged that on Friday evening a Ukrainian man holding a pistol had mugged a Romani couple in Ostrava. “Deserters! You’re coming here to wage war, you’re coming here to kill! Go back home! We, the citizens of the Czech Republic, do not want you here! Do you all want them?” Mezei asked, and the people present responded: “No!”

The would-be influencer then used the argument of most extremists and neo-Nazis – one they also use against Romani people. “One should be grateful if somebody provides one with a new home. One should demonstrate gratitude to the people, one should adapt to the country where one gets a home and not murder people!” Mezei yelled, barely catching his breath and calling for the Government to resign at the close of his speech.

All of the above lasted more than two hours. After another speech by Netík, the demonstration ended with the singing of the Czech and the Slovak national anthems.