Brno, May 28 (CTK) – Czech Senator Eliska Wagnerova (Greens) has filed a criminal complaint over the conduct of the radicals who interrupted a controversial theatre performance for several minutes on Saturday, she said on her Facebook profile today.
“On Saturday already, I decided to file a criminal complaint about unidentified perpetrators over the conduct of the gang of so-called decent people in the Divadlo na Provazku theatre. This happened this noon and the complaint was delivered to the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Brno,” Wagnerova, a former constitutional judge, said.
The performance Our Violence and Your Violence, which raised the controversy, focuses on the West’s relation to the Middle East countries. Apart from commemorating the victims of Islamist terrorism in Europe, it refers to the millions of people who died in wars and the subsequent chaos in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. It also shows what is often stereotypical approach by well-off Europeans.
In the controversial drama production, presented as part of the Theatre World Brno festival, the figure of Jesus rapes a Muslim woman. A wave of protests against the play appeared.
Some 30 members of the Decent People movement stormed the theatre stage in protest against the controversial new production and disturbed the performance for about an hour before a police riot team made them leave.
The activists formed a human chain on the theatre stage in front of the actors in an effort to oust them from the stage and thwart the performance.
“I have concluded that theatre visitors create a sort of assembly. The spectators came to see a theatre performance, while the suspects were trying to disturb grossly its course and end,” Wagnerova said.
She said it was alarming if space should be given to those who would like to dictate what theatre, books, films etc. can be watched, read, etc. and what not to the rest.
Wagnerova said this was a precedent case and as such it should be very carefully and seriously checked.
Police spokesman Pavel Svab said after the appeal of the riot team, the theatre was left by 26 people.
Now the police are dealing with the case over breach of peace.