Czech anti-immigration activist launches book on the premises of the lower house, ultra-conservatives support it

Petr Hampl, the anti-immigration and anti-Islam activist and sociologist, has launched his new book about Islam and the alleged “Islamicization” of society on the premises of the Czech Chamber of Deputies. Hampl is known for having publicly expressed support for the father who filmed himself urging his preschool-aged daughter to hit a pillow with a baseball bat while pretending she was hitting a Muslim or a Romani person, and his book launch was attended by the son of former Czech President Václav Klaus and by other MPs.

“An open racist is launching his book directly inside the Chamber of Deputies and an MP for a party that calls itself ‘civic’ and ‘democratic’ [i.e., the ODS] is boasting [on Facebook] about the author dedicating the book to him as his favorite politician. Czechia, 2018,” commented Jan Moláček, a Czech Radio moderator, on his own Facebook page.

Moláček also reminded his followers that Hampl had commented on the video footage of the little girl hitting the pillow as follows: “It was stupid of him to give way to his fatherly pride and share that on social networks. However, otherwise he’s a great Dad.”

The man who urged his daughter to imagine assaulting Muslims or Roma in the video has been given a suspended sentence of one year in prison, postponed for three years’ probation. The court found him guilty of endangering the moral development of a child, of inciting hatred against a group and of inciting the restriction of a group’s rights and freedoms.

“Let’s be absolutely clear about this,” Moláček posted. “If the ODS – Civic Democratic Party and [chair] Petr Fiala do not distance themselves from Václav Klaus, Jr., they will be joining his support of blatant, obvious racism.”

The book launch was also attended by Jiří Kobza of the “Freedom and Direct Democracy” movement (SPD); by Ladislav Jakl, a close collaborator of former President Klaus; and by Jaroslav Foldyna, who arranged for the event to take place in the lower house, according to the tabloid news server blesk.cz. Promotion of the book has also previously been supported by the Islamophobe Martin Konvička, who accompanies Hampl to various public discussions of the topic.