Powerful photo emerges of girl scout standing up to neo-Nazi in Czech Republic

A powerful image has emerged showing a young girl scout standing up to a member of an extreme-far-right group in the Czech Republic.

The image shows the teen, believed to be named Lucie, face-to-face with a full-grown man taking part in the neo-Nazi rally held in the city of Brno on 1 May.

According to Czech new site, Romea, residents of Brno were asked not to block the planned march by the far-right group as they have done in previous years, but instead to prepare dance, music and theatre performances and march alongside them.

A Facebook post by anti-fascist initiative Brno Blocks read: "We want to dedicate our energy and time to more important matters than mobilizing thousands of people because of a couple dozen Nazis.

"We want to enjoy 1 May, but also draw attention to the fact that today, ultra-right ideas are not just being shouted by groups of people marching through the streets of Brno. Fascist opinions are becoming a dangerous part of mainstream society."

The suggestion seems to have been taken to heart by the young girl scout, a member of Junák český skaut – the organisation of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) was one of those that shared the striking photograph taken by Vladimír Čičmanec, describing it as showing Lucie "in discussion with a supporter of extreme right movements".

A spokesperson added: "People from all walks of life, and scouts among them, came to the streets during an extreme-right march yesterday, to express their support for values of diversity, peace and understanding. Creating a better world!"

The image is reminiscent of a photo of Saffiyah Khan smiling as she faces off with a member of the English Defence League (EDL).

Photos of Khan, which went viral across the world, were taken at an EDL rally in Birmingham in April.

Discussing the picture in Brno, Čičmanec told IB Times UK: "The photo was taken after a friend of mine made me aware of the exchange taking place. It was heated, the neo-Nazi was clearly angry with her, but she stood her ground. I turned around, quickly paced the few meters I was away from them, started shooting and suddenly the bubbles started arriving.

"I was thinking about the Saffiyah Khan photo when I started shooting, the situation looked similar, and the bubbles were just a sweet coincidence. I thought 'this will be a nice photo', but in the sense 'when my friends see it on facebook, they'll probably like it'.

"I initially shared it with limited privacy not thinking much about it. And then people wanted me to make it public and it exploded."

The image of Lucia is also comparable to the moment when Ieshia Evans was arrested by heavily protected policeman during a Black Lives Matter rally in Baton Rouge, which many saw as one of the defining photographs of 2016.