Demonstration Czechia against poverty, called by the party Pravo Respekt Odbornost (PRO), March 11, 2023, Prague.
Prague – After the end of the anti-government demonstration on Wenceslas Square in Prague, part of the participants moved to the building of the National Museum, where they demanded the removal of the Ukrainian flag. The police asked them to leave and subsequently arrested 18 of them for disobeying the call, police spokeswoman Violeta Siřištová said. Two police officers were injured during the operation, she said on Twitter.
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Photo gallery: Czech Demonstration Against Poverty
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< p>This afternoon, several thousand people gathered at the anti-government demonstration Czechia against poverty, which was called by the party Pravo Respekt Odbornost (PRO). The demonstration started at 14:00 and lasted for three hours.
After the official end of the event, several hundred protesters moved in front of the National Museum in the upper part of Wenceslas Square, on the facade of which the Ukrainian flag is displayed. Demonstrators called for the tearing down of this flag, several hundred others supported them from the other side of the highway by shouting “take down that rag”. Later, they proceeded to call out the slogan “Bohemia to the Czechs”, which after a few minutes they changed to “Czech flag”.
The police called on the demonstrators at the museum to leave, heavy-duty soldiers arrived at the scene and blocked the entrance to the museum. Later, police reinforcements arrived. There were several scuffles on the steps in front of the museum, the crowd on the opposite side of the highway shouted at the police “shame” and “they are beating our people”. After about an hour, the protesters began to disperse.
According to police spokeswoman Violeta Siřišťová, several dozen people tried to get into the museum. “We restrained 18 people on the spot for disobeying the call,” the police said on Twitter. Two police officers were taken to the hospital with injuries, said a ČTK spokeswoman.
Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan (STAN) described the violent expressions at the end of the demonstration as inadmissible. “I expect the organizers to distance themselves from these manifestations of violence. It gives the impression that the entire so-called demonstration against poverty was just a cover for pro-Russian provocation, and we definitely cannot be tolerant of such manifestations,” the Austrian told ČTK.
The National Museum thanked the police on Twitter for ensuring the safety of visitors. Minister of Culture Martin Baxa (ODS) also expressed thanks for the professional handling of the heated situation in front of the museum. “The right to demonstrate cannot be confused with endangering the national cultural heritage,” he wrote on the social network.
