Party Vibe

here is a full translation of the CZ PM’s speech to a local newspaper which I found on SJ. Relayed here as text because of workplace net filtering blocking SJ in many places…

If Mr.Redactor Kubita of LN (Folk’s News) charges me for the alleged massacre done by riot police against dancing and singing children, then i can’t but doubt his goodwill to objectively judge the situation.

There are bitter experiences all over Europe with the hard core of initiators of technoparties. These are no dancing children. We should call things by their right name, because they are international, and also in our country politologically, sociologicaly, with the help of police and journalists well documented. This core is build from people with dangerous anarchist’s thrives and they are internationally connected. They provoke massive demonstrations against the peacefull society, started with alcohol and drugs . The logic of these violent persons is similar to the system of organizing their parties.

Through Internet and mobile networks they inform themselves so that the domestic and foreign groups, crossing the country in big vehicles, get to know about the secret place in the moment when they are ready to be fast there.

All that happens in such a way that, hour after hour thousands come and the police forces cannot stop them. Of course, all of this is covered in a flavour of romantic adventure and musical celebration, which manages to get thousands of novices which want to try it.

We already know what happens next: this is no music celebration, but seems more simillar to risky adrenaline activities, which in combination with alcohol and drugs can cause dangerous situations for their surroundings, including thousands of youngsters which come with the best will to celebrate. Lets add also: terrorizing of the population with sound, dirt and all other torments and that in all of neighbouring towns, through which the caravans pass, not to speak about the towns in immediate proximity.

Its neccesary to await destruction of the natural enviroment and elementary hygiene, with risk of spreading AIDS, jaundice, salmonel, etc. until all places are infested with trash. There are tons and tons of such experiences in our towns.

It is really true that our citizens have no right to sleep, raise their children and a right for safety? Thats why in all the western-european countries the police attacked uncompromisingly and very hard these wild parties and pushed them out of their land. In France, England and else a uncompromising legislature was approved against every not-announced music event defining strict rules for loudness, hygiene, etc. which the organizers have to fullfil.

That’s why the technoparties started to move to us and in the last years our police was too tolerant and couldn’t stop them. After all the hard days, that the neighborhood had to go through, oposition dramatized all of this against the police and the consequences have been felt for the rest of the year.

But this time it is the first time we managed to interrupt this wild party. Of course we were also paying the price of public and private damages (just in the area of Primda the damages are estimated to over 600 thousands Czk) and the price for a series of injuries. Most of the injuries are on the side of the policemen – almost 50 persons, while the aggresive attacks have been started by the fans of the party. The policemen have been pushing them out and defending themselves. At the end they defended not only themselves but also the broad neighborhood and has proved this way that we are a proper democratic country, which can protect its citizens from the wild riots.

Such are the facts. Pararells with the communist regime, or the SNB praxis, or even the november 89′ assault of the SNB against students are not appropriate. It is a offence to our citizens, which went to the street in november 89′ with a pure human message, and every analogy with this fury of young anarchists is absolutely not correct and is intentional.

[next follows a blabla about him on holydays and freedom and democracy]..

Jiří Paroubek, Prime-Minister

I have added the red colour to a very important point. The PM is clearly trying to introduce a licensing system in for music events such as in other countries…

His fears are as usuall exaggerated – but sadly it does not look now like “one soviet-style dictatorial politician against an entire country”.

Instead, we have the words here of a clever statesman who has made research into how the unlicensed party network works throughout his own country and the EU (and has added his own negative spin to these findings).

He may, unfortunately, have a certain amount of popular support from those who claim to have been inconvenienced by CZtek and other rave events.

He has seized on the negative aspects of large unlicensed gatherings such as environmental damage, lack of sanitation, noise, whilst it appears that CZtek organisers may not have paid as much attention to these problems over the years and carried on regardless of locals’ complaints…. (incidentally on the Indymedia traffic I noticed a post from a local who although they claimed the cops were out of order, also said that Cztek was too near villages and there were far better locations which could have been used which would not have caused disruption)

In the UK and France exactly the same mistakes were made – and that is why the laws were tightened up here.

Perhaps this can be a lesson to the rest of Europe and any countries where these events are still permitted without lots of licensing procedures and paperwork – please think of the locals and minimise disruption – otherwise your country as well will have such an incident and a clampdown on events…

However none of this excuses the excessive level of force used by the Police – which was unacceptable by any EU country’s standards.

Complaints should and must still be made against those in charge of the Police operation – a police officers uniform is not a mask for angry men to take out their prejudices against sections of society they do not like.

As for the future, perhaps we should all look to the East….

in Goa, India, some of the rave parties there are now organised with full consent of the locals, many of whom provide stalls and help with safety infrastructure such as water and sanitation.

in Thailand, a German party crew which was in Thailand helped re-build the area after the tsunami disaster gained so much support their events are fully licensed and supported by the local council and even the Royal Family!

Both these countries had the traditional Asian anti-drugs ethos and were initially hostile to rave events. But by a process of legitimate negotiation with local people and authorities [not corruption and bribery to override the law of the land], a situation has been reached where all concerned can hold their events without problems. This is a situation we could all strive to attain in Europe…