Czech court hands down suspended sentence for spreading false alarms, defendant attacks the prosecutor's nationality in court
A court in the Czech Republic has sentenced Ladislav Vrabel, the convener of recent anti-Government demonstrations, to four months in prison suspended for 18 months after convicting him of spreading false alarms. Judge Lukáš Svrček said Vrabel's remarks about the Czech Republic allegedly planning to deploy atomic weapons against Russia and predicting Russia would attack the Czech Republic in return had probably sparked fear and panic in part of society.
Vrabel did not wait to hear the justification for the verdict through to the end, but immediately left the courtroom together with his supporters. The decision has not yet taken effect.
The prosecutor is considering an appeal. In her closing speech, she had proposed a suspended sentence of half a year in prison.
Vrabel will now have to say whether he also wants to appeal or not. Judge Svrček, when announcing the verdict, said that “Even a democracy has constitutional limits.”
The remarks about nuclear attacks crossed the line, according to the judge. He said the court had considered whether Vrabel’s remarks crossed that line accidentally or inadvertently.
The court concluded that Vrabel had to have been aware of the kind of fear his allegations could inspire. Prosecutor Katarína Kandová described how, in a video posted online in November 2022 that has since been seen on Facebook and YouTube by thousands of people, Vrabel warned that the Czech Government allegedly wanted to attack the Russian Federation with nuclear warheads.
Vrabel predicted Russia would retaliate by firing nuclear weapons at the Czech Republic. “The defendant is not on trial for wanting to hold a discussion, nor is he on trial for having spread the fear of war, Russia has already done that,” the prosecutor said.
His categorical declaration of untrue information about the Czech Republic allegedly wanting to attack the superpower decidedly could have caused alarm among the people who follow him on social media, the prosecutor said. Thousands of his supporters saw the video.
Vrabel rejected the accusations in court. He said he feels absolutely innocent of all charges.
The defendant said he considers his prosecution to be political and an attempt to silence opposition. The judge strenuously rejected his argument.
“[The defendant] is not such a famous figure that any political representation would need to persecute him,” the judge said. Vrabel had attacked the prosecutor for “not being Czech” in his closing argument, and the judge criticized that conduct as well.
Vrabel also argued that his remarks had been taken out of context. He asserted that he had never wanted to frighten or harm anybody.
The defendant claimed to have wanted to “protect” people through his communications. His attorney then called the indictment constructed, fictitious and speculative, as well as a misleading interpretation of Vrabel’s remarks.
The Regional Court in České Budějovice cancelled Vrabel’s debt relief arrangements in January 2023. He was then declared bankrupt by the court in February.
Vrabel says he considers his trial to be political. His debts total CZK 2.7 million [EUR 115,000].
During the 17 months in which his debt relief was underway, Vrabel paid off CZK 14,500 [EUR 620], or 0.5 % of the amount owed. He was meant to pay off just 30 % of what he owes under the relief terms.
Extremists and racists attend Vrabel’s events
On 17 November 2022 [Translator’s note: Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day in the Czech Republic], Vrabel organized a march on a building housing public broadcaster Czech Television (ČT) in the Kavčí hory complex in Prague and demanded to make a speech on television. The public broadcaster had previously rejected the idea.
Criticism of the content of ČT’s news reporting and criticism of the Government were heard at the demonstration. One of the demonstrators also racially abused a ČT reporter covering the demonstration, Richard Samko, by calling him a “gypsy bastard”.
Some protesters carried the flags of extremist organizations such as the “Workers Social Justice Party” (DSSS) or “National Democracy” (ND). Vrabel also organized an anti-Government protest on 28 October 2022 [Translator’s Note: Czechoslovak Independence Day] that was attended by several tens of thousands of people, according to police estimates; his attorney Radek Suchý previously said that while his client received donations for organizing those demonstrations, he never used any of that money for his own personal needs.
