Czech courts are prosecuting the purveyors of disinformation and those who call for violence - democracy has constitutional limits, one judge said in his ruling

The court had previously sent another purveyor of disinformation, Tomáš Čermák, to prison for 5.5 years for calling on people to prevent adoption of an amendment to the law on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by using violence against politicians. Before that, the court had found Čermák guilty of stalking the president of the Czech Medical Association, Milan Kubek, and the biologist Jaroslav Flegr with the intent to harm them, along with his accomplices Zdeněk Masár and Patrik Tušl.

The District Court for Prague 1 handed down the first-instance conviction and four-month conditional sentence against Vrabel in April. The appellate court overturned that verdict and instructed the court to do a better job of proving Vrabel’s allegations had actually been untruthful, that he had not acted out of mere neglect, and that his actions had genuinely been so harmful as to rise to the level of a felony.

Judge on the sentence for Vrabel: Democracy has constitutional limits

“Democracy has its constitutional limits. Democracy does not mean anybody can say whatever they want,” Judge Svrček of the District Court for Prague 1 declared Thursday.

In the judge’s view, Vrabel’s claim that the Czech Republic wants to practically begin World War Three is obvious nonsense. However, due to the appellate court’s objections, he enquired whether the Defense Ministry and the Office of the Government are planning to attack Russia with nuclear weapons.

The judge found no doubt that Vrabel’s actions were intentional. His motivation was to gain followers, shock them, and spark agitation.

“The court is of the opinion that in this case, the defendant crossed the line,” the judge ruled. He also found that Vrabel’s followers listen to him and believe what he says.

Radek Suchý, attorney for Vrabel, said he will appeal. “This does not make sense to me. I consider this verdict absurd,” he told journalists.

The defense attorney says he believes Judge Svrček did not follow the appellate court’s instructions. Prosecutor Katarína Kandová has yet to decide whether to appeal as well.

Vrabel, according to the indictment from November, alleged in a video that has been seen on Facebook and YouTube by thousands of people that the Czech Government wants to attack the Russian Federation with nuclear weapons. Russia will then retaliate with a nuclear strike on the Czech Republic, he predicted.

The categorical declaration of this untrue information, according to the indictment, could decidedly have caused false alarm among people who follow Vrabel on social media. In court, Vrabel rejected the charge.

The influencer told the court he feels absolutely innocent of the charge. He considers his prosecution to be political and an attempt to silence opposition to the Government.

Vrabel also claimed his remarks had been taken out of context. He also claimed he never wanted to frighten or harm anybody.

The influencer claimed that his aim had been, on the contrary, to protect people from harm. In a separate development, the Regional Court in České Budějovice declared Vrabel bankrupt in February.

In January that court had cancelled Vrabel’s eligibility for debt relief. He considers that trial to have been political as well.

Vrabel owes creditors CZK 2.7 million [EUR 111,215]. Over the course of 17 months he paid down CZK 14,500 [EUR 600] of that, or 0.5 % of what he owes.

The debt relief arrangement required him to pay off 30 % of what he owes. On 17 November 2022, Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day in the Czech Republic, Vrabel organized a march on public broadcaster Czech Television’s headquarters in Prague, demanding they let him on the air.

The television station had previously rejected Vrabel’s requests to address the public on air. During the demonstration, in addition to criticizing the content of Czech Television’s news reporting, the Government was also criticized.

Vrabel had organized anti-Government protests previously, and several tens of thousands of people attended the one on 28 October (Independent Czechoslovak State Day). His attorney previously said donations sent to Vrabel by his followers to cover the costs of organizing these demonstrations were never used by Vrabel for his personal needs.

Disinformation purveyor Tomáš Čermák sentenced to 5.5 years for inciting terrorism

Tomáš Čermák (age 36) from Holýšov in the south of the Plzeň Region has now become the very first person in the Czech Republic to ever be imprisoned for inciting terrorism. In February 2022, broadcasting live on the Facebook social network, he objected to an amendment to the law regulating the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his half-hour video, Čermák called for active resistance against the adoption of the amendment, for the seizure of power, for the Senate to be set on fire, and for the Czech Republic to leave the EU and NATO. He called for violence against cabinet members and legislators in particular.

Among other remarks in which he referred to such persons as “animals”, Čermák declared “we’ll hoist them by their snouts, throw them into the river, and be rid of them once and for all”. Presiding Judge Jiří Lněnička said in the verdict that: “When we review what the defendant said in his speech, we are unable to come to any other conclusion than that it is a call for violence against members of Parliament and the Government of the Czech Republic with the aim of affecting their performance of their duties.”

The court said the legal qualification of these actions, which Čermák disagreed with, was absolutely correct. The judge rejected the argument that the sentencing was disproportionately exemplary or harsh.

This crime carries a sentence of between five and 15 years in prison. Čermák’s sentence, therefore, is almost the mildest possible and also takes into account his previous conviction connected with his driving a personal vehicle.

About 100 people came to the appeals trial to support Čermák and expressed their disagreement with the judge’s decision by whistling and shouting “shame”. Čermák’s defense was that he is an opposition activist and was speaking hyperbolically in the video.

Patrik Tušl gets 19 months for making threats with intent to harm

At the end of July, the District Court for Prague 8 increased Tušl’s original sentence by four months to 19 months in prison for stalking the head of the Czech Medical Association, Milan Kubek, with intent to harm him and for rioting outside the home of the evolutionary biologist Jaroslav Flegr during the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendants’ guilt, according to the judge, was proven not just by Flegr’s and Kubek’s testimony, but also by the video recordings which the defendants themselves made and published.

As the verdict was being read aloud in court, Tušl yelled that the judge was lying, laughed, and objected to some specific sections of the decision. After the hearing was over, a fan of the defendants who was present in the courtroom shouted at the judge and then assaulted journalists in the corridor.

Zdeněk Masár faced rioting charges as well and was sentenced to 13 months in prison, suspended for 2.5 years. His sentence also takes into consideration his previous convictions.

Dozens of supporters came to the hearing to support the defendants, with roughly 20 people making it into the courtroom. Shortly after the start of the hearing, the judge ordered the ejection of an activist and confidant of Čermák’s, Pavel Zítek, who demanded an explanation for why she had banned filming the hearing on video.

Other supporters in the corridor started chanting “shame” and whistling after Zítek was ejected from the courtroom. That was followed by the chanting of slogans such as “the court is a business” or “tell us who the judge is.”

Because the speeches being made in the corridor were disrupting the proceedings, police had to clear away from the space in front of the courtroom. Police then posted guards in the corridor.

Tušl was convicted of having attempted to force Kubek to be in contact with him between November 2021 and January 2022. He waited for him in front of the building where Kubek lived, rang the bell and demanded answers to his questions about vaccinations against COVID-19.

The stalker also waited for Kubek outside his workplace, and detectives testified that he called Kubek’s office. Čermák sometimes participated in this behavior too but was not found guilty of it.

Čermák, Masár and Tušl, according to the prosecutor, also assembled together in late November 2021 outside of Flegr’s home, sounded a siren, called on Flegr “to cease his illegal activity in the name of the law” and then shouted abuse at him. Their motivation, according to the prosecutor, was to defame Flegr in the eyes of the public.

Tušl claimed to the court in January that he never committed any crimes. He did not deny attempting to contact Kubek, but in his view the doctor had lied about him in the media and he wanted to speak with him “face to face”.

In his most recent court appearance, Tušl called his prosecution a show trial to intimidate society. Defendants Čermák and Masár told the court in January that they never harassed Flegr.

Tušl is in prison today serving 15 months for various crimes, including his hateful remarks about Ukrainians and his threats to kill a police officer. However, he will be in prison longer than that – according to news server Aktuálně.cz, the courts decided in April to increase his previously suspended sentence for failure to pay alimony and making threats against his former partner to 10 months in prison.