Hundreds of police demonstrate against so-called "Service Law"

Around 300 Czech police and other members of the security forces protested in the centre of Prague on Saturday in protest at the so-called "Service Law". The demonstration was organised by police unions, who claim that the law, which has been in effect since the start of the year, leaves many police officers worse off. Their principal grievances include the fact that the law abolished many bonus payments for overtime work and for working on state holidays and weekends. The Czech Minister for the Interior Ivan Langer denies that the law has had a detrimental effect on police salaries and maintains that the wages of 94 percent of police officers have increased since the legislation was introduced.

The turnout was a lot lower than expected, but protest organisers claim that the attendance would have been much higher if some police had not been assigned to a special traffic-safety operation. They also said that the number of people protesting was also affected by the fact that a lot of extra police were on duty amid security concerns surrounding a first-division football match between Slavia Prague and Banik Ostrava on Saturday evening.