Final Word from Wednesday, January 8, 2025
On the 10th anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris yesterday, the extremism and terrorism unit of the Czech police asked Parliament to lift the immunity of SPD Chair Tomio Okamura so that he can be prosecuted for running campaign billboards that could easily appear in the pages of the satirical French weekly. The irony of this is clearly lost on those who are cheering on the Czech police. In Paris, it was Islamic terrorists who were attacking those exercising their right to free speech; in Prague, it is the police. One of the differences in the two cases is the motive. The terrorists in Paris were apparently punishing the magazine for making fun of the Prophet Muhammad. The police action in Prague could be another example of the crackdown on freedom of speech spearheaded by Supreme State Prosecutor Igor Stříž. Or, on the contrary, it could be a subtle provocation from within the anti-establishment and could be intended to help SPD and to accelerate the rewriting of the Czech political map. [ Czech Republic France antiestablishment deep state ]
Glossary of difficult words
to be lost on (someone) - to fail to be noticed or appreciated by (someone);
crackdown - a series of severe measures to restrict undesirable or illegal people or behavior;
to spearhead - to lead (an attack or movement);
anti-establishment - against the establishment or established authority.