On March 5, approximately 7,000 Czechs flooded Wenceslas Square to protest against the ex-communist police after he was appointed to head of police watchdog.

According to the Guardian, Zdeněk Ondráček had served in a unit that beat up pro-democracy demonstrators in the 1989 Velvet Revolution before the fall of communism in what was then Czechoslovakia. Needless to say, the appointment of him as head of parliament’s police oversight committee caused an uproar across the country. After the protest on Monday evening, Ondráček resigned on Tuesday afternoon.

People rattled their key chains in the air in an echo of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 that took down the Communist party.

7,000 people brought the center of Prague to a standstill.
Protesters held sheets of paper rolled up to resemble police batons.
Petition were signed to call on Parliament to have a new vote on another person to head of the security commissions.

Prominent chants were “communists are murderers” and “we have had enough”.

“We have had enough!”

People were also protesting against Babis, the Czech Prime Minister, and his party ANO that supported the appointment of Ondracek.

Video by Radio Free Europe

Photo courtesy of Chau Nguyen

Chau Nguyen
Chau was the Editor-in-Chief of Lennon Wall magazine from July 2017 to June 2018. During her term, she gave editorial directions, oversees the operation and set policies. She was also responsible for the final products of the magazine.