Czech lower house might vote on stripping Okamura of immunity as soon as next week
The Czech Chamber of Deputies might review the police request to strip the chair of the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) movement, Tomio Okamura, of his immunity from prosecution on Wednesday afternoon. Marek Benda, the chair of the lawmakers for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in the lower house, provided the Czech News Agency (ČTK) with a list of the coalition government's priorities for regular business which indicates they will try to add the issue to next week's agenda.
Police suspect Okamura of inciting hatred toward a group and/or inciting the limitation of their rights and freedoms in relation to last year’s billboard campaign by the SPD. The police request to strip Okamura of immunity would have to be added to the agenda of the upcoming regular business in the lower house.
The motion previously discussed by the organizing committee did not include an agenda item about stripping Okamura of immunity. Originally it was presumed that it would be included in the March session of the lower house.
The plenary will be taking a decision about the police request without a recommendation from the Committee on Immunity and Mandates. Neither a resolution to recommend agreeing to Okamura’s prosecution nor a resolution to recommend disagreeing with his prosecution received the necessary majority of votes there.
Committee chair Helena Válková (Association of Dissatisfied Citizens – ANO) and vice-chair Pavel Staněk (ODS) disagree with the idea that the results of the Committee vote imply that a majority might not be found in the plenary session to strip Okamura of immunity from prosecution. “The lawmakers of other parties did not agree with each other that I committed a crime,” Okamura commented on the outcome.
In the runup to last year’s elections to the European Parliament, one-third of the Senate, and the regional assemblies, the SPD billboards sparked controversy. One targeting the EU migration pact featured a man with dark skin wielding a bloody knife and wearing a bloody shirt along with the message: “Deficiencies in health care can’t be solved by importing ‘surgeons’. ‘Stop the EU Migration Pact!’”
Critics called the ad racist and said it was scaring the public unnecessarily. Reports of a crime were filed.
The SPD chair claims the ad was “truthful” and a reaction to Government moves which he believes will mean migrants will start “flooding” the Czech Republic. He also said he considers the affair to be an attack on freedom of speech and an attempt to silence him.
Because one report of a crime was filed against the ad by a TOP 09 politician, Jiří Pospíšil, Okamura said it was an attempt to “criminalize” the opposition. Another SPD ad in last year’s campaign featured a graphic of two Romani boys smoking cigarettes; the ROMEA organization and several Romani figures filed a report of a crime against it.
Artificial intelligence had obviously been used to generate the image. The message read: “They say we should go to school, but our folks couldn’t care less…” and “Welfare just for families whose children attend school!”
Okamura has repeatedly rejected the idea that the SPD is racist or xenophobic, calling the ads “allegories”. The SPD campaign has already been ruled on by the courts.
Attorney Pavla Krejčí and her clients sought in courts in various regions to protect the integrity of the election and prohibit the use of the SPD ads. The regional courts did not comply with her proposals.
The Czech Constitutional Court said it had no procedural way to intervene.
