A neo-Nazi lecture scheduled to take place on 5 April in facilities owned by the Prague 1 municipality was prevented from going forward. On 4 April, Prague 1 Mayor Oldřich Lomecký immediately cancelled the municipality’s leasing of its social centers to the neo-Nazi group.
The municipal council will have to vote to uphold the mayor’s decision next week. Czech daily MF Dnes was the first to report that the small venue had been leased to right-wing extremists.
The venue on Revoluční Street was to have been leased to an ultra-right organization called Generace Identity (Generation Identity). Allegedly the group has leased the venue several times in the past.
Lomecký claims he had no information about the lease. However, he does believe municipal officials have only limited options for preventing such events.
Neo-Nazis are also known to lie in order to lease a venue. The room was officially rented by a person who presented himself as a representative of a group called "Society against Drugs" (Společnost proti drogám).
"It strikes me as extremely inefficient to have a detective office investigate this given the few hundred crowns the municipality earns from such a lease," Lomecký noted. He cancelled the lease of the municipality’s social centers at both Revoluční 5 and Ve Smečkách 25 to the group.
Lomecký said he would be turning to the municipal department council to uphold his decision. Officials have also changed the locks on the buildings and warned the municipal police of the situation.
The mayor said he would like to "more effectively lease" the spaces in the building. He also said the town hall would be returning the money paid to reserve the venue.
"If this matter ends up in court, I am prepared to bear the costs of such a proceeding," the mayor said. The neo-Nazis announced on Facebook that their event would take place elsewhere.
