Czech lower house strips Tomio Okamura of immunity, he can now be prosecuted for racist campaign ads

The SPD chair called the decision an attack on freedom of speech. Lawmakers decided to strip him of immunity after several hours of debate in which the SPD argued the prosecution would be a “political trial” and would endanger free speech.

Ultimately most of the lower house voted in favor of stripping the SPD chair of his immunity so he can be prosecuted. Of the 143 legislators present, 81 voted in favor.

Those voting against the move numbered 62. Lawmakers from the governing coalition of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Mayors and Independents (STAN), Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL} and TOP 09, the opposition Pirates, and independent Ivo Vondrák (previously with the Association of Dissatisfied Citizens – ANO) voted in favor.

ANO representatives voted against the move, as did Tomio Okamura and SPD legislators. Hayato Okamura, a Christian Democrat who is Tomio’s brother, left the floor before the vote was cast as he had announced he would.

“A new era is starting for us, a new era of criminalizing politics, and you all are responsible,” Radim Fiala, chair of the SPD club in the lower house, told the lawmakers who voted to strip the SPD chair of immunity. He called it the “end of democracy”.

“Ultimately this will destroy you all,” Fiala (SPD) said. The Czech Police asked the lower house to agree with the prosecution of Tomio Okamura on 7 January 2025.

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The police investigation concerns two campaign ads used by the SPD during elections to the European Parliament, one-third of the Senate, and the regional assemblies in 2024. The first ad, called “Imported Surgeons”, showed a dark-skinned man wielding a bloody knife and referred to migration policy.

The second ad, called “Romani Boys”, depicted two Romani boys with bored expressions and cigarettes in their mouths, accompanied by the message: “They say we should go to school, but our folks couldn’t care less.” Police assessed both as inciting hatred and as racist.

The plenary session decided on the police request without a recommendation from the Committee on Immunity and Mandates. Neither of two motions voted on there, one which recommended stripping the SPD chair of his immunity and one which recommended not to strip him of his immunity, received a majority of votes.

Tomio Okamura sent a written submission to the Committee extensively defending and explaining the motifs of the ads, which was then read into the record of the Chamber of Deputies, as was the police request, by Committee Vice-Chair Pavel Staněk (ODS). SPD legislators put signs on their rostrums reading “I vote no”.

“We are de facto holding a debate on freedom of speech, not about me, but about what it is allowed to say and show and what it is not permitted to draw attention to, and how,” the SPD chair said to an all but empty chamber, adding that “an era is starting that is not dissimilar to the normalization period of socialism.” Jaroslav Foldyna (SPD) declared that “The prosecution of Tomio Okamura is the prosecution of freedom of speech in this country.”

“If we don’t defend freedom today, it can happen that tomorrow we will just have opinions which are permitted,” Marie Pošarová (SPD) said. The chair of the Committee on Immunity and Mandates, Helena Válková (ANO) was interested to hear the SPD chair’s position on the police request to strip him of immunity.

Committee Vice-Chair Staněk said that he expected the SPD chair would take advantage of his prosecution to defend his position in court. “That is what I would call fighting for free speech,” he stressed.

Racist ads with a dark-skinned man and Romani children

Controversy was sparked in the runup to last year’s elections to the European Parliament, one-third of the Senate and the regional assemblies over the SPD’s ad against the EU Migration Pact. That ad featured a dark-skinned man wielding a bloody knife and wearing a bloody shirt with the message: “Deficiencies in health care can’t be solved by importing ‘surgeons’. ‘Stop the EU Migration Pact!’”

Critics of the ad said it was racist and that it scared the public unnecessarily. Crime reports were filed against it.

Tomio Okamura has repeatedly rejected the idea that the SPD is racist or xenophobic and called the campaign ads “allegories”. After being stripped of his immunity, he told the press that “Now I face three years in prison for that truthful ad.”

The ROMEA organization and several Romani figures filed a crime report against the SPD ad showing two Romani boys smoking cigarettes. The graphic had obviously been generated by artificial intelligence.

The message of that ad was: “They say we should go to school, but our folks couldn’t care less…” and “Welfare just for families whose children attend school!” The campaign has also been reviewed by the courts.

Attorney Pavla Krejčí and her clients tried to preserve the integrity of the election by asking courts in different regions to ban the ads. The Regional Courts rejected the suggestion.

The Czech Constitutional Court said it did not have a procedural avenue for intervening.