About 500 protesters gathered at an anti-Islam demonstration in Prague on January 16.
Speakers at the protest included Marek Cernoch, deputy chairman of the populist Dawn of Direct Democracy, and Jana Cernochova, from the right-wing opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS).
Expressing sentiments that echoed recent anti-Islam demonstrations in Dresden, Germany, some protesters in Prague equated Islam with terrorism and said they want to protect their Czech traditions from the influence of Islam.
The demonstrators carried signs and banners with slogans like “Europe, wake up!” “Islam is evil,” and “Moderate Islam does not exist.”
The organizers of the rally were from a group that calls itself “We Do Not Want Islam In The Czech Republic.”
About 20 people attended a counterdemonstration against racism and xenophobia that was held nearby.