Czech court remands purveyor of disinformation into custody on charges of spreading a false alarm

The Czech Police posted to the X social media site that they were transferring him to the remand prison in Litoměřice (see post below). His trial before the District Court in Chomutov is scheduled for 30 August.

An arrest warrant was issued for Zítko by the Czech Police this April. He had failed to appear before the Chomutov court to face the charges.

The court had planned to start his trial on 19 April, but never managed to deliver either a preliminary summons or the indictment to Zítko. He informed the court in writing that he was “cancelling” the trial “by virtue of his authority as a citizen of the ČSFR”, the acronym for the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, which existed between 1990 and 1992.

The court never managed to contact Zítko. He refused to take delivery of communications from the court even after visiting police in Liberec in person.

Zítko has repeatedly cast doubt on the authority of the court in Chomutov, comparing it to a “Gardeners’ Union”. He also filed a complaint with the Czech Constitutional Court against his arrest warrant that did not succeed.

“In this situation it is obviously impossible to identify with the plaintiff’s claim that the District Court violated his constitutionally guaranteed rights by issuing an arrest warrant for him,” the Constitutional Court finding said. Zítko was later arrested in Slovakia.

The Slovak Police arrested Zítko at the end of June on the basis of a European arrest warrant and a court in Nitra placed him in preliminary custody several days later. He faces charges in the Czech Republic for casting doubt on the existence of the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic and for posting videos online alleging that being vaccinated against COVID-19 would have negative repercussions for human health.

The prosecutor previously refused to communicate any details to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) about the case, saying only that Zítko was charged with spreading a false alarm. Zítko previously drew attention to himself at the District Court for Prague 8, when together with others he chanted loudly and gave a speech supporting Patrik Tušl, charged with harassing the head of the Czech Medical Association, and supporting Tomáš Čermák and Zdeněk Masár, who faced charges of rioting.

Zítko also wanted to run for president last year but never submitted enough signatures from citizens in support of his candidacy, which is why the Czech Interior Ministry did not allow him to run. His candidacy was supported at the time by the people around the Romani political party Roma Luma.

According to the media, Zítko published a letter this year that he allegedly delivered to the Russian Embassy in Prague. In it he asked the Russians for aid “with the legal renewal of Czechoslovakia”.