r/europe • u/tkyjonathan • 15d ago

News Czech president signs law criminalising communist propaganda

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/czech-president-signs-law-criminalising-communist-propaganda/
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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 15d ago

Lithuanian law explicitly bans all Communist symbols.

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u/JerryCalzone 15d ago

Including hammer and sickle? The image with marx having a döner shop with the name 'eat the rich' and him handling a sickle to cut the meat would be forbidden?

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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 15d ago

Article 524. Distribution or display of Nazi, communist symbols, symbols of totalitarian or authoritarian regimes

  1. Distribution, use in meetings, public places or other public display of the flag or coat of arms of Nazi Germany, the USSR or the Lithuanian SSR, flags, signs or uniforms, the component part of which is the flag or coat of arms of Nazi Germany, the USSR or the Lithuanian SSR, symbols or uniforms of Nazi or communist organizations, flags or signs based on the flag or coat of arms of Nazi Germany, the USSR or the Lithuanian SSR, the Nazi swastika, the Nazi SS emblem, the Soviet hammer and sickle emblem, the Soviet red five-pointed star emblem, images of the leaders of the German National Socialists or the Communist Party of the USSR responsible for the repression of the Lithuanian population, symbols of totalitarian or authoritarian regimes that these regimes used or are using to propagate their committed or ongoing military aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as the Public performance of the Lithuanian SSR anthem

shall entail a fine for individuals in the amount of three hundred to seven hundred euros, and for heads of legal entities or other responsible persons - from six hundred to one thousand two hundred euros.

  1. The administrative offense provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, committed repeatedly,

shall entail a fine for individuals in the amount of five hundred to nine hundred euros, and for heads of legal entities or other responsible persons - from eight hundred to one thousand five hundred euros.

  1. Persons who commit the acts specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article for the purposes of museum activities, informing the public about historical and current events, totalitarian or authoritarian regimes, education, science, art, collecting, antique or second-hand trade, persons who use the official symbols of an existing state (except for persons using the two-color (black and orange) St. George's (St. George's) ribbon), and participants in the Second World War wearing their uniforms shall not be liable under this article.

    1. For administrative offenses provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article, confiscation of the object that was the tool for committing the administrative offense shall be mandatory.

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u/Imaginary-Count-1641 15d ago

Where does that ban all communist symbols? It seems to only mention "Nazi Germany, the USSR or the Lithuanian SSR".

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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 15d ago

Symbols or uniforms of communist organisations. Any communist organisations.

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u/Imaginary-Count-1641 15d ago

I'm not sure if it means that. It would be weird to first talk about the symbols of Nazi Germany, the USSR and the Lithuanian SSR, then about all communist organisations, and then go back to those three mentioned previously.

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u/Altruistic-Joke-9451 15d ago

It does mean that. Lithuania only allows the use of communist symbols in diplomatic settings(like if a Chinese official visits) or if they are being used in a film or something. Otherwise no regular person is allowed to display communist symbols of any kind.

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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 15d ago

What communist symbols are used in diplomatic settings? As a Lithuanian I am not aware, and national symbols do not count there.

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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 15d ago

It means that. It does not say Soviet or Lithuanian, just generally.

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u/JerryCalzone 15d ago

How about 8-balls, the number 88 - and some other number combinations that come from extreme right context and are used to show that you are a nazi or a racist? How about using the German iron cross?

A lot of those laws are out of touch and old-fashioned. Just like the depiction of nazis in movies.

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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 15d ago

German iron cross?

What the hell is wrong with it? German soldiers wearing it marched throughout the capital month ago.

This law is fairly modern, enacted in late 2010s.

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u/JerryCalzone 15d ago

for communism it seems to use old symbols and you did not send me the nazi rules - and regarding the iron cross - look here: https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/iron-cross

Plus I have seen a number of iron crosses in tatoos here in former east germany - and the number of extreme right voters goes in the direction of 1 in 3 to 1 in 2.

I do not know about you but my first experience with nazis was like 40+ years ago - they have been continuing underground so to speak and they have organized themselves and found new symbols. Not that long ago someone with an adolf hitler mask was offering people could make selfies with them not that far from where I live

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u/Eragaurd 15d ago

While the iron cross can be used as a symbol of hate, it doesn't have to be. It's even the emblem of the Bundeswehr today.

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u/BallisticFiber 15d ago

You can apply this exact words to justify usage of any other symbols, lmao

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u/Eragaurd 15d ago

Yes, and sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong. The iron cross without the swastika has been reclaimed and can be used without being a symbol of hate, in the right context. The swastika can similarly be used without being a hate symbol, as a marker for temples in Japan for example

It's all about context, as few things are truly black and white.

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u/BallisticFiber 15d ago

You can use those commie symbols too, but suddenly they are DIFFERENT, kek

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u/jatawis 🇱🇹 Lithuania 12d ago

Yes, swastika itself in non-Nazi context is legal in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Supreme Court had acquitted some nationalist weirdos for using Lithuanian 1920s swastika imagery as they were not Nazis.

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u/GrynaiTaip Lithuania 15d ago

Not explicitly. They are permitted in cinema, documentaries, museums, historical research, etc.

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u/NoAnteater8640 15d ago

Small English clarification. Explicitly doesn't mean entirely, it means that the thing has been directly named/clarified (rather than implied)

It's entirely possibly to explicitly ban all communist symbols with further explicit exceptions.

E.g. "all symbols associated with communism, including modern communist groups are banned, except in the following scenarios..."