Thousands attend Prague Pride parade
Participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of a van ramming near the CSD parade in Berlin. The march was accompanied
Participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of a van ramming near the CSD parade in Berlin. The march was accompanied by enhanced security measures. Tens of thousands of people marched through Czech capital of Prague on Saturday as part of LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations. The festival is to last for a week. The theme of this year's event is "Times are changing." At the start of the parade, participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of a van ramming near the Cristopher Street Day (CSD) parade in Berlin two weeks ago.
The July 25 attack killed one person and injured around 31 others. Police said hundreds of officers were deployed to secure the parade route and added there were no major incidents Image: Ondrej Deml/CTK Photo/IMAGO The Saturday march in Prague was accompanied by enhanced security measures, including the deployment of hundreds of police officers and a de-escalation team. Participants were also told to carry banners by hand or to use plastic poles rather than wooden poles. "As every year, the aim of the festival is to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues, to show how this community lives in the Czech Republic and that it is still waiting for equal rights," the director of Prague Pride, Kamila Frohlichova, was cited by Germany's DPA news agency as saying.
Marchers in Prague paid their respects to the victims of a car ramming in Berlin in late July Image: Michal Cizek/AFP What else do we know about the Pride march in Prague? According to police reports, there were no major incidents. A group of counter-demonstrators also gathered along part of the march's trajectory. The march began at Wenceslas Square in central Prague around noon (10:00 UTC/GMT) and arrived at Stvanice island in the Vltava River that passes through the city at around 2:30 p.m. local time, according to Czech media. A musical program was held once the march reached its terminus and the festivities continued into the night.
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