Paul Bouda
reporter Pilsenský deník
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The spectacular celebrations of the end of the war in Pilsen end with a commemorative event on Monday at the Thanks, America! monument, but the Sunday incident during the passage of the Freedom Convoy through the city center remains in the memory of many. After that, the Pilsen police recorded a video on social networks where the driver of one of the cars, when he approaches the place where the veterans and their descendants are, hands the other person in the vehicle a flag with a Nazi symbol.
Convoy of Liberty passed through the center of Pilsen on Sunday, May 5.
| Photo: Deník/Pavel Bouda
She to them he waves the flag and returns it to the driver. Thanks to the quick work of the police, both persons have already been identified.
“These are Czech citizens and we have initiated criminal proceedings on suspicion of committing the offense of expressing sympathy for a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. We are dealing with the case further. Charges have not yet been filed, and if found guilty, they face up to three years in prison,” confirms police spokeswoman Michaela Raindlová.
“The incident is a complete degradation of the celebrations as such. Waving such a flag in front of the descendants of the Americans who liberated Pilsen is incredibly stupid,” says Václav Vostradovský, for example, the chairman of the Šumava Military History Club Gabreta. He is sorry that the Pilsen Freedom Celebrations are no longer talked about and written about, but about that single incident. “At the same time, the festivities went very well, meeting people there was touching, and this actually spoiled them all,” he adds.
One of the actors in the American convoy handed the second person in the vehicle a flag with a Nazi symbol:
The police recorded the passing of a flag with a Nazi symbol at the Freedom Celebration
“I can’t even describe how I feel. I can’t imagine what kind of people these could be. This falls on all of us, we have been building something here for thirty years and then such a person comes along. In addition, it does not belong to us at all, because the participant of the convoy does not have to be a member of any club. The city just registers him and he gets an entry card to Sukova Street, where the convoy lines up. And according to my information, his car didn’t even have a valid MOT. Of course we ask that he be punished,” says Martin Dlouhý.
According to him, consideration should be given to tightening the selection of participants and consider, for example, participation only for registered clubs. However, the city considers this to be premature.
“We will wait for the conclusions POLICE and when we know more, we will definitely address it. But that person fulfilled the rules of registration, and of course it was impossible to reveal his intentions in advance,” says Jana Komišová, head of the marketing department of the Pilsen municipality, and immediately adds: “I can say for myself that this person has a stop sign with us forever.”
