Dozens of Slovak activists rallied Thursday, June 18, outside the capital’s Presidential Palace, where head of state Ivan Gašparovič met his visiting Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, protesting Chinese disrespect for human rights, newswires reported.
Police and medical emergency services stepped in as the activists – chief among them representatives of the Civic Conservative Party (OKS), including Ondrej Dostál, clashed with Chinese supporters of Hu Jintao.
Dostál was originally detained as someone who did not obey police orders but was later released as a witness and injured party, as the police acknowledged he had just defended his possession (a banner).
Medical intervention was required for a woman chanting 'Falun Gong (seen as an illegal cult in China) is good' was knocked to the ground by Chinese demonstrators and suffered head injuries. The Chinese demonstrators were men wearing dark suits and nametags who were believed to be part of the entourage of the Chinese head of state, the TASR newswire wrote.
According to the TASR newswire, these persons hindered journalists trying to take photos of the developments and a TASR photographer was attacked and sustained minor injuries in the process. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
