The B’nai B’rith’s Concordia Lodge in Kosice condemned a demonstration by the far-right Slovenska Pospolitost (Slovak Togetherness) group in the town of Kosice on the 18th September 2009, the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.

The rally, which drew 150 supporters, followed an earlier gathering in eastern Slovakia that had been billed as a “national mobilization” in response to an alleged attack by two Roma children on an elderly man.  Police subsequently charged Slovenska Pospolitost’s leader, Marian Kotleba, with defaming various minority groups in violation of Slovakia’s hate speech laws.

B´nai Brith Concordia Lodge expressed its deep indignation that this far-right, xenophobic organization could obtain permission to gather in a public space once again, given the fact that all their previous gatherings ended in hateful racial outbursts, leading to criminal prosecution of some of the participants. 

“This type of public demonstration,” the Concordia Lodge observed, “has contributed to the spread of racial hatred in the town, which has always been known for the long-standing peaceful cohabitation of ethnic and religious minorities.”

Source: CHRPP – This Week