Squat Milada
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| Squat Milada | |
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| General information | |
| Location | Na Kindlovce 1903/8, Libeň, Prague, Czech Republic, 182 00 |
| Coordinates | 50°07′01″N 14°26′35″E / 50.11694°N 14.44306°E |
Squat Milada is a First Republic villa in the Libeň district of Prague. Milada was intended to be demolished in the 1980s and deleted from the cadastre. Therefore, it was a house which officially did not exist. It became one of the Czech Republic's best known squats, occupied from 1997 until 2009, and reoccupied for a day in 2012. Acting as a self-managed social centre and infoshop hosting concerts and events, Milada was also home to a number of people. Despite various plans for the site, as of 2023, the building was standing derelict.
Milada is a First Republic villa located in the Libeň district of Prague, next to two blocks of flats (Kolej 17. listopadu) housing university students.[1] As part of plans for its demolition, Milada had been removed from the cadastre and thefore no longer existed officially.[2] Left derelict in 1988, Milada was occupied in 1997, along with the neighbouring villa, Miluška.[3]
Social centre
Milada was raided twice by the police in the summer of 1998 and was also attacked by representatives of the owner. In October 1998, a private security firm attempted to evict the building but was repelled, with two squatters remaining on the roof for four days. The security guards trashed the house but were unable to evict it.[2] Students from a nearby housing block strung a line of rope across so that they could supply the occupiers with food and drink.[4]
Originally occupied as a "Point of Free Culture and Resistance", the project then changed into a residential community.[5][6] Over time, the number of events being organised declined until in 2007, a new collective was formed.[7] The self-managed social centre was used as an infoshop, a bicycle repair workshop, a cafe, a meeting space and a venue for punk gigs and experimental music.[5] A Food Not Bombs collective cooked out of the building, which also housed people.[7] Milada had become one of the longest-lasting and well-known squats in the Czech Republic, alongside Ladronka.
In March 2009, the building was re-registered by the owner, the Institute for Information in Education (ÚIV), as a first step before selling it.[8] ÚIV decided to evict the squat in early July 2009. It sent a private security firm supported by the police to clear the building. The squatters resisted the eviction and eight of them sat on the roof. This resulted in a standoff, with the fire brigade being called to negotiate with the last occupiers.[9][10] It became a controversial story in the mainstream media and prompted a response from Michael Kocáb, the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities.[9][10]
