Ex-chair of party dissolved by the Czech courts for its neo-Nazism is furious at being called a "Nazi" by a journalist, files criminal report

Vandas filed the crime report on 25 February 2025 with the Prague public prosecutor. He is bothered by the appearance of Šídlo, who writes for the Seznam Zprávy news server, on the 14 February episode of the “Události, komentáře” [News and Commentary] program on Czech Television.

During a discussion of the speeches which were given at the recent Munich Security Conference, Šídlo mentioned the Czech supporters of U. S. President Donald Trump. For instance, the commentator mentioned Andrej Babiš, Michal Hašek and Kateřina Konečná.

He added Vandas to that list as well, saying: “…Tomáš Vandas, as a famous Czech Nazi”. In his crime report, Vandas alleges that Šídlo’s designation of him was “a total lie” and harmed his public reputation.

Vandas referenced his business activity and the fact that he is a local assembly member in the town of Bílina. “Dear Friends, as I announced I would, today I filed a crime report against the presstitute Šídlo. We’ll see what the criminal justice authorities do. In any event, further retaliatory measures will follow… Filth has to be confronted!” he raged on social media.

News server Romea.cz contacted Šídlo for comment and he responded sarcastically: “Yes, I guess I overstated the case. Vandas is probably no longer such a famous Nazi as he was at the time of his biggest fame, when the Supreme Administrative Court dissolved the Workers’ Party, or when he was convicted of supporting neo-Nazism.”

The neo-Nazi history of the DS, the DSSS and Vandas

Tomáš Vandas chaired the Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana – DS), which was dissolved by the Supreme Administrative Court in 2010 because of its neo-Nazi ideology. The court found that the party was inspired by National Socialism, racism and xenophobia.

The DS had also never ruled out the possibility that it might use violence to achieve its goals – on the contrary, it celebrated such violence, intentionally incited such violence, and publicly approved of such violence. After the DS was dissolved, Vandas immediately established the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS), which directly continued the original DS mission.

The DSSS focused on organizing anti-Roma demonstrations and marches, the aim of which was to cause tensions and incite hatred. Vandas did his best to exploit anti-Romani rhetoric to win political influence, but the DSSS never crossed the line of being an extremist, fringe party.

In 2011, Vandas was convicted of defamation on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, political conviction or race, but avoided serving his sentence thanks to the amnesty announced by outgoing Czech President Václav Klaus. Vandas repeatedly used hateful rhetoric in his speeches.

For instance, in Dělnické listy [Workers’ News], he wrote the following in 2009: “The parasites have been given enough advantages… There has been enough tolerance of inadaptable leeches…”.

Other remarks of his in that vein were, for instance: “We want a pure, white country, without parasites and other vermin… Nobody will stop the Workers’ Party“ or “We reject the vision of the architects of the New World Order, who consider Fortress Europe the final obstacle to the realization of their centuries-old dream of ruling the world.”

The latter remark references antisemitic conspiracy theories. The DSSS eventually lost influence and quietly shut down at the end of 2024.

However, Vandas has not left the scene and has moved to a new group called “Bezpečné ulice” [Safe Streets], where he continues to promote nationalist, ultra-right positions. He is doing his best to present himself as a patriot and participates in radical right-wing events.

Vandas’s political career has involved a transition from open neo-Nazi activities to attempts to legitimize ultra-right politics under the rubric of “patriotism” and “protecting traditional values”.