Protests Erupt After Communist Riot Cop Ondracek’s Named Head Of Security Corps

Prague, March 4 (CTK) – Protests against the election of Communist (KSCM) MP Zdenek Ondracek as head of the lower house commission for the supervision of the General Inspection of Security Corps (GIBS) will take place in 11 Czech towns on Monday evening, Lucie Kohoutova told CTK today.

 

The protesters want simultaneously sign a petition pushing for a new election of the commission head, Kohoutova said on behalf of the organisers.

 

The protesters plan to hand the petition sheets with people’s signatures to the lower house petition committee on Wednesday.

 

About 10,000 people have envisaged their participation in a rally to be held in Prague’s central Wenceslas Square, while further 30,000 showed interest in the event on social networks.

 

Protests will also take place in the Moravian towns of Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Jihlava and Roznov pod Radhostem, and in Bohemian towns of Pisek, Ceske Budejovice, Plzen, Liberec and Hradec Kralove.

 

The Chamber of Deputies elected Ondracek as the commission head on Friday. He was supported by 79 deputies, while 78 were required for his election.

 

Ondracek, nominated by the KSCM, ran for the post repeatedly. He failed to be elected in the previous two votes on December and January.

 

Many deputies criticised Ondracek’s activities during the communist regime when he was a member of a raid police unit intervening against anti-communist demonstrations.