Prague - The Czech interior minister has asked the police president to launch an inquiry into the raid carried out last week by the UOOZ, an anti-mafia police squad, at Prague's Islamic center. The policemen entered the center, which also serves as a mosque, on April 25, disrupting a Friday prayer.

“I have asked Mr Police President to look into the issue. I haven't received any detailed information from him, but from media reports it seems to me so far that the action was harsh and inconsiderately timed,” Interior Minister Milan Chovanec told Aktualne.cz in a text message.

Police President Tomas Tuhy and UOOZ head Robert Slachta have declined to comment on the raid.

Czech government refuses to take in Syrian refugees

Killed Palestinian ambassador “held explosive in his hands”

The Indonesian embassy in Prague has officially complained about the raid in a diplomatic note sent to the Czech Foreign Ministry. The embassy's officials were present at the mosque during the raid and were allegedly held inside by the policemen for an hour and a half.

The UOOZ raided the Prague headquarters of the Islamic Foundation on Friday 18 April and charged a 55 year-old man with promoting movements aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms.

The arrested man, a Czech national who lives in Prague, is suspected of distributing a book with racist content in the Czech Republic and faces as much as ten years in prison, UOOZ spokesman Pavel Hantak told the Czech Press Agency (CTK). The book was promoting “racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and violence against so-called inferior races,” said Hantak.

Police have questioned around 20 people. Immigration police will start the deportation process of some of them.

Follow us on Twitter!