Multiple weekend protests show deep divide across Czech society

This weekend, activists organized three separate protests against various domestic issues in Czechia. Prague saw two large demonstrations – an anti-government protest and a pro-Palestine gathering. Over in Brno, several dozen people demonstrated against Friday's acquittal of a Ukrainian man who fatally injured a young Roma.

Tens of thousands gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square Saturday for an anti-government demonstration organized by the PRO party and Czechia Against Poverty group. The speakers demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Petr Fiala's cabinet, criticized President Petr Pavel and the EU's green policy, and spoke out against the war in Ukraine. A former prime minister, Jiří Paroubek, was in attendance.

According to PRO, Czechia is sending too much financial and military aid to Ukraine, and is getting “too involved” in the Russia-Ukraine war. Protestors demonstrated against the unreasonably high cost of living and high average inflation levels seen since 2022. PRO leader Jindřich Rajchl told journalists: “This government is anti-Czech. President Petr Pavel is a disgrace to the country and a political puppet.”

Some counter-protestors, carrying Ukrainian and NATO flags, gathered near the National Museum and engaged in verbal conflict with the demonstrators. The police reported no serious violence.

The PRO party had already organized three similar anti-government demonstrations in 2023. Rajchl confirmed that more demonstrations would take palce before the end of summer.

Sunday saw hundreds of people gather in Prague to support Palestine, carrying dozens of banners and flags. They marched across Mánes Bridge and Jan Palach Square to náměstí Republiky after various activists delivered speeches. 

The organizers included civic initiatives such as Not in Our Name!, Prague 4 Palestine Youth, Friends of Palestine, the Palestine Club, and Food Not Bombs representatives also spoke. 

The supporters chanted slogans and played the Palestinian anthem, expressing their disagreement with the Czech government's staunch support for Israel. They also laid down mannequins to symbolize and pay tribute to the thousands of children killed in the war so far. The organizers criticized the media and politicians for being apathetic towards the situation in Gaza. 

Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, who have met senior Israel leaders since the outbreak of the fullscale Israel-Palestine war in October 2023, have repeatedly reaffirmed Czechia’s full backing of Israel.

According to unverified figures, at least 32,226 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and 74,518 others have been wounded.

Dozens protested Sunday outside the Brno Regional Court against the acquittal of a Ukrainian man who killed a Czech Roma man in a fight in 2023. The ruling stated the Ukrainian acted in a necessary form of self-defense. Protesters disagreed, saying if the ethnicities were reversed, the court would see the situation differently.

Justice Minister Pavel Blažek said over the weekend on social media site X that the court's reasoning was clear, and the case had no racial or ethnic overtones. Roman Samko, one of the protesters, fears it may set a precedent for more racially motivated attacks. "I am angry and outraged. This is a mockery of all Roma people and all the inhabitants of this country," he said.

The death occurred last June. A man from Ukraine injured three people with a knife during a fight near a tram stop, and one of the three, a young Roma man, later died. The killing led to several tense inter-ethnic clashes in Czechia’s second-largest city during the summer, and heightened anti-Ukrainian violence.