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Czech minister wants investigation of crackdown on music festival
[August 03, 2005]

Czech minister wants investigation of crackdown on music festival


The Associated Press

The Czech Republic's interior minister Wednesday called for an independent investigation of a crackdown on a techno music festival over the weekend but insisted police acted correctly.

Some 1,000 riot police used water cannons and tear gas Saturday to disperse about 5,000 people attending the annual the CzechTek electronic dance music festival, prompting widespread criticism from Czech government leaders and citizens alike.



"We will find an independent lawyer's office which would work out a legal analysis for us," Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan told a news conference Wednesday.

"I, however, insist that police acted according to law, and we have enough evidence to prove that," Bublan said.


Thousands of protesters gathered near Bublan's ministry in Prague later on Wednesday, calling the police action brutal and unjustified and urging him to resign.

Watching footage from the police action on a giant screen, the crowd chanted "Gestapo!" and waived banners saying "Stop the violence," or "Czech Republic - a country where it's forbidden to sing and dance."

The Mayor of Prague Pavel Bem also criticized the crackdown in a statement Wednesday, calling it an "aggressive, stupid and inadequate action of Czech police."

He said festival-goers headed to Prague after the party was broken up -- a predictable result. Prague "is not a meadow, and the damage here could be much higher," he said.

Protests were also held outside Bublan's office on Sunday and Monday.

Organizers of the weekend festival had obtained permission to hold the event in a private meadow in Mlynec, a village about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Prague. But police said festival-goers were illegally entering private land outside the approved zone.

Dozens of festival-goers were injured slightly in the police action.

According to deputy police chief Vladislav Husak, 89 officers suffered injuries, and two had to be hospitalized.

Husak also said 439 foreigners traveling to the festival were denied entry into the country due to poor condition of their vehicles, invalid travel documents or missing vaccination certificates for dogs traveling with them.

Opposition and government politicians, as well as former President Vaclav Havel, criticized the heavy-handed tactics. President Vaclav Klaus said those who had ordered the action had damaged the reputation of Czech police.

The upper house of parliament was to discuss the crackdown Thursday.

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