Tear gas, water cannons as Czechs protest virus rules

Czech police said they used tear gas and water
cannons at a violent rally held Sunday in Prague against government measures
introduced to stem the coronavirus spread.
Thousands of protesters, including "radical
"football fans according to police, gathered in the capital's historic Old
Town Square to demand the resignation of Health Minister Roman Prymula, the
mastermind behind the restrictions.
The rally turned fierce as protesters and police
scuffled after authorities began dispersing the crowd, saying attendance far
exceeded the current limit.
"Participants attacked the police without any
reason," Prague police chief Tomas Lerch told reporters, while another
officer described them as "radical fans".
"We used a water cannon, tear gas and
petards," Lerch said, adding that nearly 20 officers were injured.
Prague's emergency service tweeted it had treated
nine people and taken four to hospital "mainly with head injuries, cuts,
inebriation and breathing problems following tear gas intoxication."
Police said they detained around 50 people before
the rally and seized fireworks, brass knuckles, telescopic batons and firearms.
The Czech Republic is the worst-off in the EU's
rankings of new coronavirus cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
On Friday, the EU member of 10.7 million people set
a new record in daily infections with 11,105 cases.
As of Sunday, it has registered more than 170,000
confirmed cases and over 1,400 deaths.
The rally was organised by the HON civic
association, though football supporters made up a sizeable percentage of the
crowd.
"The government announces the measures
automatically without context and most of us have no chance to cope with
them," reads a statement signed by the fans of 13 out of 18 Czech
top-flight football clubs.
Waving a Czech flag, protester Vlasta Ciencialova,
who came to Prague from the east of the country, did not mince her words
regarding Prymula.
"He admits no opposition. How dare he? Who does
he think he's talking to? We're not sheep, we're normal people," she told
AFP.
Prymula himself slammed the protesters for
"disdaining the work of medical workers."
"I suppose we'll have hundreds of new
infections as a result," he added.