Litmus test for racism in Czech Republic

The harsh punishment for four Czech neo-Nazis who were sentenced to between 20 and 22 years behind bars has met with a high level of disapproval in the country's online forums. President Václav Klaus has also said he finds the punishment too severe. The leftist daily Právo is appalled by this reaction: "The arson attack went beyond all previous racially-motivated acts of violence. It was a long time in planning, the perpetrators are demonstrably active neo-Nazis and the entire act bears the traits of an act of terrorism. The judiciary showed with its harsh sentences that the state power in the Czech Republic will not tolerate neo-Nazi terrorism. So the question now is how the public reacts. ... The reaction to the judgement will therefore be a litmus test that tells us about the level of racism in the Czech Republic."

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