CzechTek Diary @ DiaryLand

February 17, 2006, 7:47 PM
Directive to solve events like CzechTek to be ready soon
Prague, February 12th, 2006 (CTK) - The ministry directive for municipalities to solve similar mass events like last year's CzechTek rave will be completed by the end of February, Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan told public Czech TV (CT) today.

The Interior Ministry has given up the original idea to prepare a special law on such events.

"It would be redundant to create a law," Bublan said in a CT discussion programme Questions of Vaclav Moravec today.

The organisation of mass culture events got in focus after the police dispersed the CzechTek rave in Mlynec, west Bohemia, last summer.

Several dozen ravers and police officers were injured during the police crackdown on CzechTek in which policemen used water canons and tear gas. The police action cost 31 million crowns.

In connection with CzechTek, five ravers have been charged with assaulting a public official. Two of them have been delivered suspended sentences, while another three will be tried in court.

A number of ravers accuse police of brutality, but none of the policemen has been charged in connection with the rave.

Ombudsman Otakar Motejl, too, dealt with the 2005 CzechTek. He concluded in his report that the police crackdown was justified, but inappropriate and that policemen did not use all possible means to solve the situation peacefully without using force.

Bublan said he welcomes Motejl's report as it is worked out thoroughly and in detail. He admitted that though he is not fully satisfied with the contents, the report's criticism is rightful in some points, for instance that police did not communicate with ravers sufficiently.

"We are training special police teams to be able to communicate with large crowds of people," said Bublan.

He added that Czech police would also gain experience from their German colleagues.

"We have been invited to May Day in Germany as strong demonstrations of leftist radicals are staged in Germany then," said Bublan.

He noted that Czech police would also use psychologists for negotiations during mass events and that documentation about police actions should improve too.

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