Czech Muslims stage prayers outside Interior Ministry

Some 300 Muslims staged a prayer in Prague’s Letná Park outside the Czech Interior Ministry on Friday, in protest against last week’s police raid of two Islamic centres in the capital. The police raided a mosque and a prayer room during last week’s Friday prayers over the publication of a book which allegedly incited religious hatred; one man has been charged with hate speech crimes and faces up to 10 years in prison. On Friday, the head of the Czech Muslim community, Muneeb Hassan Alrawi warned against a surge of islamophobia which could have been triggered by the raid. The police operation has also come been criticized as inadequate by some politicians and public figures.