Duke denies plans to return to ČR

The American white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke told The Prague Post that, despite rumors in the Czech press, he has no plans to visit the Czech Republic again and called the Czech government as repressive as it was under communism.

Duke traveled to Prague in April 2009 to meet with far-right politicians and promote his new book, My Awakening. He was arrested shortly after arriving while sitting at a pub with his Czech hosts. Within hours he was deported.

A rumored return trip came first from Czech far-right activist Filip Vávra in what is now viewed as a publicity stunt to stimulate unity among divided Czech far-right factions. According to Vávra, Duke was to arrive sometime in January, as part of a European book tour. Duke was said to be pursuing monetary compensation for his treatment by police in April and was to speak out against the arrest of several Czech far-right activists in recent months.

"I have no plans whatsoever of making the visit," Duke said. "I haven't spoken with Vávra in some time, about a month or two, and, even then, we never really discussed the matter."

Duke also said he is unfamiliar with the members of the far-right groups that Vávra claims are in detention.

"I didn't know whether anyone was arrested along with me. I heard that a few people were arrested later on, but I don't know who they are," he said.

Duke did confirm he is speaking with attorney Klára Slámová about acquiring unspecified compensation from the deportation incident in April. Slámová, who refused to comment, said in a September interview with Czech television that the action taken against Duke is illegal and a lawsuit is warranted.

Authorities justified Duke's arrest by noting he is a Holocaust denier - a crime in the Czech Republic - but courts found insufficient evidence to back this claim. For his part, Duke denies being a Holocaust denier but does refer to such claims as "the hypocrisy of Jewish Zionism."

"It was clear from the beginning that there was no evidence to prove his guilt, and there will be none," Slámová told Czech television. "The police did not guarantee even the minimum of essential evidence to result in arrest. He has the right to compensation."

Police have defended the April arrest as a legal pre-emptive measure that prevented civil unrest.

"He was suspected of breaking the law of extremism propaganda, addressing concerns in his latest book that meant to suppress laws and liberties," said Pavla Kopecká, a Prague Criminal Police spokeswoman. "However, the court did not find enough evidence to prove he was guilty."

Duke is now using the platform to tout his right to free speech.

"The thing that really shocks me about the Czech people is everything they have done against communism, and now, for what, to tolerate a new repression that inhibits the very freedom they fought for," he said.

Duke is known as the founder and grand wizard of the Louisiana-based Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People. He served as a state legislator in Louisiana and has staged unsuccessful runs for president, the U.S. Senate and governor of Louisiana, among other offices. He is often sought as a speaker by far-right advocates like Tomáš Vandas, chairman of the Czech Workers Party, who points to Duke's political experience as a draw.

"The hysteria around his last arrival only proves how this society punishes those who have different opinions," Vandas said.

Opponents of the far-right agree with Duke on one thing: Arresting Duke was not the right course of action.

"Purpose-built police interventions are, in our view, counterproductive," said Adéla Soukupová, a spokeswoman for ANTIFA, an NGO opposing fascism. "They only make unnecessary publicity for racist clowns who would, under different circumstances, only deliver a bunch of neatly packaged nonsense for several already-devoted racists."

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Philip Heijmans can be reached at
pheijmans@praguepost.com