Czech Interior Ministry: Organized antigypsyism was not recorded in the second half of 2022, but extremists continue to radicalize online

During the second half of 2022, organized displays of antigypsyism were not recorded in the Czech Republic. Extremist online radicalization, however, is an immediate security challenge for the country.

The Czech Interior Ministry has drawn those conclusions in its report on developments in the extremist scene during the second half of last year. The ministry also mentioned the long-term decline of the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS) and reiterated the dominance of the “Freedom and Direct Democracy” (SPD) movement of Tomio Okamura and the nationalist scene.

“During the second half of 2022, the Czech Republic had to face many social, economic and political problems which constitute fertile ground for extremist and xenophobic groups. These entities, however, did not manage to sufficiently take advantage of the opportunity available. These domestic entities can be considered marginal, with the exception of the “Freedom and Direct Democracy” movement. They are usually groups of limited reach or functioning for a limited time. Frequently they are also limited by their disputes with each other,” the report begins.

No organized displays of antigypsyism

The Interior Ministry states in its report that it has not recorded any organized displays of antigypsyism. “As a rule, what was recorded were just ad hoc events motivated by anti-Roma bias,” the report states, giving the example of a case from November 2022, when the District Court in Olomouc convicted a man who had insulted a group of Romani people in May and assaulted one of them, finding him guilty of felony defamation of a nation, race, ethnic or other group, of disorderly conduct, and of causing physical injury, and handing down a suspended prison sentence of nine months.

The ministry also mentions a case in which the Municipal Court in Prague upheld the suspended sentence handed down against a former MP for the SPD, Miloslav Rozner, for his remark about the WWII-era concentration camp for Roma at Lety u Písku having been a “non-existing pseudo-concentration camp”. “The District Court for Prague 4 sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for one year, for felony denial, doubting, approving of and justifying genocide,” the ministry says.

On-line radicalization and the decline of the DSSS

According to the ministry, online radicalization affects various age groups and social strata as well as different directions, ideologically speaking. The report says that for right-wing extremism, the biggest threat is represented exactly by communities that are isolated online.

“There are not many of these and their members do not speak out in public, as a rule. Their risk consists of the fact that they could generate lone assailants,” the ministry explains.

Members of these communities tend to be well-equipped in terms of languages, which facilitates their contacting colleagues abroad. “In communication with others they confirm their own convictions, gain courage and find inspiration,” the ministry reports.

A halfway point between communities online which are radical and extremists on the right as traditionally understood is the antisemitic, homophobic Workers’ Youth (Dělnická mládež – DM), which uses hateful, heated rhetoric and makes threats, according to the ministry. The report also states that representatives of the DSSS and the National Democracy party did not organize any significant events in the last six months of 2022.

“Their influence has long been waning. Their voters are being coopted by different ‘patriotic entities’. They are unable to introduce their own subjects to support and they lack charismatic leaders,” the ministry’s assessment states.

SPD has no competition in the “pro-national space”

The local elections showed once more that the SPD movement has no competition in the Czech “pro-national space”. “Representatives of that movement are aware of their exclusive position and carefully guard it. Competing ‘patriotic’ activists, in some cases, are attempting to create an alternative to the movement of Tomio Okamura. As a rule, though, they are not politically successful and end up being forgotten, gradually,” the authors of the report state.

“During the period under review, representatives of the SPD movement put xenophobic subject matter on the back burner. Their priority instead was concentrating on criticizing the domestic and foreign policy of the Government,” the ministry says, adding that the strong theme of the movement became the war on Ukraine and citing an interview with SPD chair Tomio Okamura in which he claims to have “no idea” who unleashed the war.

The extreme left and orthodox communists

As far as the extreme left goes, the ministry says anarchists have continued to especially concentrate on events in Ukraine. “Most Czech anarchists tend toward the idea that defeating the Kremlin regime is the priority. After that, it will be possible to focus on organizing society according to anarchist notions,” the report states.

The importance of orthodox communists, according to the ministry, continued to decline during the second half of last year. “The older generation is no longer publicly active, young activists are not joining them in relevant numbers. Communist groups also influenced the end of the presence of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) in Parliament,” the ministry recalls.

Individual communists, according to the report, get just a “certain amount of response”, for example, the former vice-chair of the KSČM, Josef Skála. He tried unsuccessfully to get enough individual signatures to run for president, and currently is on trial for having cast doubt on the Katyn massacre.

Dissatisfied people could endanger the democratic foundation of the Czech Republic

The ministry also states in the report that a big enough group of people dissatisfied with the state’s direction and setup would have the potential to endanger the Czech Republic’s democratic foundation. This group is strongly influenced by conspiracy theories and is an easily manipulable target for extremist and xenophobic politicians or foreign powers.

“In the Czech Republic, a group of dissatisfied citizens has established itself as a relevant political force who distrust the Government and the democratic system and who disagree with the direction of the state in its foreign relations,” the Interior Ministry says. Various conspiracy theories seem to offer an alternative to such people, according to the ministry, theories that frequently involve extreme nationalist and xenophobic opinions.

“The potential for the democratic foundation of the Czech Republic to be endangered exists and could increase,” the ministry emphasizes. The report gave the example of the group around Ladislav Vrabel, whose demonstration was attended at the beginning of September last year by roughly 70,000 people.

“After September, the initial influence of that activist declined, among other reasons because of his disputes with his colleagues and coworkers,” the report stated. The ministry also pointed out that online, especially on social media, several experienced conspiracy theorists are active and highly followed.

“Some disinformers collect money from their fans. The competition among them, therefore, is fierce,” the ministry said.

The ministry reiterated that various groups are being created that operate through “patriotism” and the alleged necessity of essentially transforming how the state works. “They are becoming more and more isolated from the rest of society,” the ministry warns.

“After the COVID-19 pandemic ended, many disinformers shifted their interest to, among other matters, the war in Ukraine. As a rule, they began to parrot the allegations of the Kremlin’s propaganda. The wartime conflict has therefore distanced their followers even more from the opposite stream of opinion,” the ministry says, adding that the level of aggression is also rising in society.

The report also discusses disinformation media outlets which, according to the ministry, especially follow the pro-Kremlin line. “The creation of alternative media can be compared to the production of a gigantic PR agency aiming to promote everything associated with official Russian policy (or favorable to that policy) and to criticize everything pro-Western and pro-democratic,” the ministry reports.

“These media outlets have already found their circle of fans who believe them without reservation and reject serious media outlets. These fans then spread the content from the alternative media through email and social media. They have no problem accepting allegations that logically cancel each other out or contradict each other,” the ministry notes.

In association with Russia’s war on Ukraine, the ministry has recorded speech aimed against both Russians and Ukrainians. The most famous and most publicized case involved the conviction of disinformers Tomáš Čermák and Patrik Tušel for their hateful videos against Ukrainians.

Police dealt with 149 hate crimes in 2022, 41 more than in 2021

According to the report, the police began addressing a total of 149 crimes motivated by hate last year, which is 41 more than in 2021; they have solved 69 of them so far. These crimes most frequently targeted Jewish people, followed by Romani people and members of the LGBT+ community.

The perpetrators most often committed the crime of violence against a group and its individual members. Police recorded 46 cases of violence against a group.

Authorities also addressed 28 cases of incitement to hatred of a nation or race. There were 22 cases of graffiti among the crimes motivated by hate.

Defamation of a nation or race was also dealt with by police 17 times. They handled 10 cases of making dangerous threats and nine cases of intentionally causing injury.

Last year police began prosecuting a total of 73 people for hate crimes, compared to 99 prosecutions in 2021. The targets were Jewish people in 25 cases, Romani people (20 cases) and the LGBT+ community (13 cases).

The highest number of hate crimes (79) was registered by police in Prague. The Liberec Region followed with 15 crimes and the South Moravian Region with 10.

The fewest hate crimes (two each) were recorded in the Hradec Králové, South Bohemian and Vysočina Regions. The most people prosecuted (22) were also in the capital, while 15 people were charged in the Olomouc Region and 14 in the Liberec Region.