David Cermak - CzechTek highlighted problems in Czech police force
Rob Cameron's guest on One on One is David Cermak, from an initiative to defend the organisers of the recent CzechTek festival, an event that rocked the political scene in this country and divided the Czech public. The police decision to break up CzechTek with force, following complaints from the owners of neighbouring plots of land, made headlines around the world, and the event has become a cause celebre.
What exactly is the CzechTek festival David?
"It's a free festival, and the biggest festival in the Czech Republic. A lot of people come from abroad. It's a festival with no entrance fee. It's a free festival."
Why did you get involved in CzechTek and in the initiative to defend the organisers?
"On the first day of CzechTek I saw in the newspapers that there was a problem with the police blocking streets up there. I know a lot of lawyers, so I brought lawyers there to try and solve the problem."
How many times has CzechTek been held?
"This is the 12th CzechTek."
Have there been any problems in the past?
"This CzechTek was the first legal CzechTek. The last eleven ones weren't legal. So this is a big problem - the first legal festival has the biggest problems of all the twelve."
Why is that? Why were the first eleven illegal but free of problems but the first legal one full of problems?
"At the last CzechTek there were about 20,000 people and about 140 policemen. This year the police said 'we don't want to allow any CzechTek, whether illegal or legal', so they sent 1,200 policemen there and tried to stop it."
"I'm not surprised. Police have to follow the law. But three weeks after the event, we still don't know why the police came and blocked the surrounding streets and took the people out and spilt some blood there."
CzechTek has truly divided Czech society, you've even been supported by President Vaclav Klaus. What do you think that says about the state of Czech society?
"I've spoken to sociologists and they told that's been a problem in Czech society for a long time, that the people really don't know which side to choose. Now the problem is that the police and the Interior Ministry are still telling people lies about what happened. We want to change this and tell the truth. But it's a real problem."
Some people compared CzechTek with the brutal police suppression of anti-Communist demonstrators in 1989. Is that a valid comparison?
"That was a demonstration. This was just people dancing. So it's really something different."
Do you think anything good can come out of the CzechTek affair?
"The good thing is that now the people see what's happening in the Czech police. This is one of the biggest problems in Czech society, and now some light has been shone on it."
Will there be a CzechTek next year?
"I think there should. This year the organisers did everything to comply with the law. So why didn't CzechTek pass off without any problems?"
