Forums › Rave › Party Reports › Czech Republic’s Tony Blair Takes On Teknivals
http://www.tranzfusion.net/articles/shownews.asp?newsid=4318
Czech Republic’s Tony Blair Takes On Teknivals
Jonty Skrufff
Date Added: 7.8.2004
Hundreds of Czech riot police broke up a massive Teknival free party this week, after 15,000 revellers gathered outside Bonenov, Tachov for what had become an annual event in the Czech Republic.
Initially police reportedly negotiated with partygoers before seizing some mixers, prompting disorder which in turn lead to police firing teargas. Cops later issued several ultimatums to the crowd ordering them to leave, which most people obeyed, leaving the last several hundred to file out through police lines this Wednesday (five days after the party begun).
“The police were ordered to stop the party by our new Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, Skrufff’s Czech correspondent Jana Komankova explained.
“The big difference this year compared to previous ones is that the police said they will not tolerate illegal parties anymore,” she continued, “and the prime minister’s order to stop the party probably played a big role in that decision.”
34 year old Stanislav Gross became the Czech Republic PM just two weeks previously and according to the Guardian ‘models himself on Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, (being) renowned for his charm, his persuasiveness, and his talent for being all things to all people’.
And judging by local press reports, the former train driver also appears to share Tony Blair’s appetite for Puritanism, and is seeking to outlaw free parties altogether.
“The new approach to these parties is necessary because of our entry into the European union”, Gross’ press person Vera Duskova told local news server iDNES.
“Up until now the police tactics have always been to follow the path of least resistance but that policy has now finished,” she confirmed.
“Reports on the ground suggest the sound systems are moving on to Romania to the Transylvanian Alps and then possibly on to Bulgaria,” Jana concluded.
“The party scene seems to be moving eastwards.”
this is exactly what I feared would happen when they joined up 🙁
the spin doctor is simplifying matters a bit – but the way EU works is that member states get funding which is conditional on them following certain rules – one of which is effective and robust government and law enforcement systems.
Britain gets EU leadership soon (October?) IIRC.
look at it this way
1989 – velvet revolution (from communism)
1993 – velvet divorce (from Slovakia)
2004 – velvet invasion (by EU)
Just checked out a profile of Mr Gross – he’s only 34 (youngest head of state in the EU?) and not that much older than I am 🙁
Did he not enjoy discos and techno parties when they were celebrating CZ was being liberated? Actually probably not; I would expect he was studying hard at University first and then working hard at becoming a politician and rising to the top. This is the sort of “middle European” who is our new adversary! Saddest thing is they are now the same generation as the ravers – I am seeing a lot of this amongst people of my age who did not or have ceased going to parties; even to the point where former ravers are complainig about disruption caused by free events or even advocating old bill closing them down 🙁
TBH I don’t think CZ festival will die; it is important to the locals for tourist cash etc; but what will happen is that like in Britain it will become increasingly commercialised with license and ticket only entry, drug searches etc, and there will be more controls over who gets involved.
Paradoxically, the “free” festivals appear to be being shifted back over the “iron curtain” (it still exists, except Brussels builds it now rather than Moscow!)
in czech republik the police repression after czechtek has been condemned by several politicians(some posts of suburbass,french dj arrested 5 hours after czechtek and livin in prague,in http://www.ravest.net forum).lookin around,i think it is exception in europe
About what someone said before me that teknivals will die in czrep. no they wont, and its not that likely that they will become commercial. we have lots of commercial open air festivals but they attract a completely different group of ppl. lots of hiphop fans here. and pop techno, dance music like creamfields. what happened at cztek this year was really messed up. lots of people here have mixed feelings about it, but a lot of people (not ravers 😉 ) that think the police is completely wrong and that ravers are actually really nice people, who just like to have their freedom do drugs and party :D. the systems that were confiscated are now getting return, and everything is good. and will be good next year, and the year after that! 😀 as far as i have heard and read online, the police came because the guy who rented out the field called the police and said something about the ravers going on private property… its all shit…………. but whatever cztek04 was GOOOD this year!!! enjoyed it very much, was lucky enough to leave the day before. my friends made me leave, i wanted to stay, was sort of happy the next day when i heard what happened……….. aiight well i guess thats all i have to say. peace out…… 😀
Originally posted by k.s.u…
About what someone said before me that teknivals will die in czrep. no they wont, and its not that likely that they will become commercial. we have lots of commercial open air festivals but they attract a completely different group of ppl. lots of hiphop fans here. and pop techno, dance music like creamfields. what happened at cztek this year was really messed up.
I think you may have misunderstood what I was trying to say – I don’t think CZtek will die any more than free parties in England would stop (they haven’t despite some of the harshest laws in the EU)…
but I do think overcommercialisation and over-regulation is a real and present danger to festivals such as CZtek.
Ironically, this unwelcome development has come about because of political decisions which were supposed to make your country “freer!”
CZ ravers should ask themselves (and some no doubt are) – why did this all happen now when for years the teknival went on without problems?
As you have said yourself the landowner called in the cops – the newsreports I have read say he did this because he has found out from somewhere that he can get more money from using the land for some other purpose like agriculture rather than permitting the teknival to happen.
This has happened because CZ is now in the EU and eligible for
some farming subsidies (not as many as the “richer” EU countrys had before as they removed a load just as the “poorer” countries were coming in!)
Its worth also asking why is your prime minister taking such an interest in stopping raves – particularly such a young man who you would think would still have a sense of fun? When we have raves in England, even big ones, many are left alone for days! Those which are stopped are often only stopped by 20-30 local cops with no pistols, not hundreds of heavily armed riot cops, and although it sometimes happens major violence is still rare.
We do not get Tony Blair asking personally for raves to be shut down (even when a crew did one in the grounds of his private house!)
As for Mr Gross – if he was elected by the will of the people in a fair and open election – then there must many also who do not like raves. obviously some group in CZ (those who have now got private ownership of land?) supports what he is doing, as much as those who want raves are against the heavy police action!
Another danger is that the organisers of commercial festivals may actively support action against unlicensed ones as they “eat into their profits” (even though this is often not the case); this has happened in some other European countries.
Assuming your new government is a democratic one and they won’t just send the special police to bust everyones heads if they protest, then perhaps people from ravers groups must lobby the local councils and governments to ensure these events continue? Such things have been done before when anti-rave laws become too harsh..
I do think though your country might have a better chance of sorting out an amicable solution than somewhere like Britain where there are more entrenched views on land ownership, class structures etc..
hi people, some facts: stanislav gross the 34yr old cz’s tony blair resigned couple months ago. dont remmember exactly when. todays prime minister is someone else. his name is paroubek. it doesnt really matter. what matters is the way police in cz worked last weekend. the “elite” units that took part in the incident and who consist (more than half of them) of harsh looking rambo-type guys (as in many other countrys), who tend to symphatize with nazis (its a fact, according to psychological survey from among czech police academy’s students) were held in record high temperatures (in the whole europe this last weekend) in full armor for some tens of hours. people who were trying to get to the festival’s destination were not allowed to leave the area, which later even became impossible due to blocking of highway D5 by police, as more and more people were arriving (not just festival participants obviously). another fact is that this year’s czechtek was probably first legal one in its 12yrs history. the signed permission to use the land was displayed in media even before brutal police intervention. police claims that they were defending propeties surounding the rented meadow, but the fact is that the only reasonable entry for the cars (straight off from the highway) was blocked by police vans. people were pouring in through the woods at the other side of the property, which police did not stop. on late sunday afternoon police started moving on the ravers. pigs were looking at the young the whole time and must have seen children in carriages were also brought in with some techno fans. in spite of that they attacked young people, many of them drunk, who could not leave the property due to the blockings. a police van ran over a guy sitting on the grass at very high speed. participants’ parked cars’ windows were keeing broken and explodin tear gas cans were beeing thrown inside. some cars caught on fire, no bigger fire damage is reported. police kept on breaking every glass bottle found on the ground, to prevent participants throwing them at the police cordons, leaving the place in a big mess. about 50 policemen were injured and 10s of participants also. 1 person died at the place. police said it was hit by a truck, but no witnesses nor the truck had been found. czech police, who proved them selves to be a herd of amateur nazis, still claims that they were defending private property, despite the fact that after every czechtek the location is being cleaned up by organizers (if the police lets them do so, which they didn’t in04 for example) and despite the fact way the place looks now with a lot of glass and car tracks made in the mud after they used water cannons. police even brought in armoured vehicle, to make the kids behave. several demonstrations occured in prague and brno since sunday and more are planned. however the prime minister and minister of interior claim they were acting right and legally despite many proofs of police violence. check tecno.cz.. tons of photographs.
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Forums › Rave › Party Reports › Czech Republic’s Tony Blair Takes On Teknivals
