Demonstrations held against police breakup of techno festival

Demonstrations have been held in Prague and Brno against the police's break-up of the CzechTek free music festival last weekend. Over a hundred people were injured on both sides after riot police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse an estimated 5,000 festival participants. Protests were also held at the Czech embassies in Paris and Berlin on Saturday.

There has been strong criticism of the police's actions from President Vaclav Klaus, his party the opposition Civic Democrats and former president Vaclav Havel. However, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek and Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan continue to insist the intervention was justified, though both men say some individual police officers may have broken regulations.

Investigations have been launched by both the police themselves and the Ombudsman's office.